Of Sisters and Midnight Kisses
by efficacious humorosity
Summary: Lily and James are the best of friends, so she decides to spend the summer before their seventh year at his house along with Remus, Sirius, and James' younger sister, Starr.  To what lengths will Starr go to get Lily and James together? SBOC and some JPLE
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Anything you recognize, I don't own. Please read and review. Enjoy! **

Chapter 1

"Oi! Prongs! Wakey, wakey!" James Potter was lying on his bed, pretending to be asleep and hoping his friends would leave him alone.

"Get up!" roared Sirius. He must've just stepped out of the shower, because he took his wet towel and whipped James' bare back with it.

"I'm up, I'm up!" he yelled, rolling over and grabbing his glasses from the nightstand. His friends Sirius and Remus came into sharp focus; Sirius' long, dark hair and Remus' sandy brown tresses. He glanced at his clock. "It's not even ten o'clock yet. What the bloody hell did you two wake me up for?"

"I thought it was obvious," Sirius muttered to Remus, who shook his head sadly.

"You remember Lily Evans? Who used to hate you until you learned to work together this past school year? Who's one of your best friends that you just happen to be in love with?" Remus said patiently.

James nodded. "How could I forget her?"

"Well, you must've been dropped on your head while you were asleep, because you obviously forgot today is the day she's coming to spend the rest of the summer here, like Moony and me!" Sirius said.

"Oh, shit!" James said, his memory returning to him suddenly. "I'll be right down; give me fifteen minutes."

"Hurry though, Prongs. She'll be here any minute and we all know you don't want to miss that," Sirius said, winking at him.

James sighed, trying to tame his unruly jet black hair with a comb. "See you on the flip side, Padfoot."

"James!" shrieked the redhead. Lily Evans threw her arms around James Potter, her best friend. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Lil, it's only been a fortnight since the school year ended," he laughed. "It's not been that long."

"Well, if you had to live with a horse-faced sister, it'd seem like a lot longer to you too," she sniped, greeting Remus and Sirius in turn. "Speaking of sisters, where's Starr?"

"I'll call her," he said with a grin. He trotted into his house and stood at the foot of the stairs. "Oi! Nova! Get your lazy ass down here!"

"'Nova'?" Lily giggled, coming up behind him.

"She's an honorary Marauder; she had to have a nickname," he shrugged.

"I'm coming, fat head!" a girl called from a bedroom up the stairs. After a few moment, a black-haired girl emerged from the room, her hazel eyes twinkling with laughter at the banter she shared with James. She hugged him, saying, "What's up, bro?" Then she spotted Lily. "Lily!"

"Starr!" Lily squealed. The two girls embraced, jumping up and down excitedly. Starr Potter was James' younger sister and Lily's best girl friend. Starr was a mere one year younger than them, and she was one of the oldest in her year, so she fit in quite nicely with them.

"Sorry I took so long getting up, Lily," Starr said. "Someone forgot to wake me up." She cast a icy glance at her elder brother.

"Not my fault," he said defensively, throwing up his hands. "Sue me."

Remus and Sirius finally managed to join them. "There's my lovely Starr," Sirius said, draping his arms around the raven haired girl. She rolled her hazel eyes, looking remarkably like a female James, but blushed faintly. Lily hid her giggles behind her hand, knowing full well that Starr had fancied Sirius since the beginning of her fourth year.

"Sirius, get your paws off of me. Who knows when you last washed the dirt off of them?" she jibed, shrugging his arm off.

"Like brother, like sister," he chuckled.

"For your information," Sirius said, "I showered this morning and whipped James with a wet towel." Starr sniggered at her brother.

"Oh, hey!" she said suddenly. "Let my dear, old, lazy ass brother give you a tour of our humble abode."

"No one has a lazy ass but you, Nova," James said. "I'm not the one who sleeps in 'til noon every day."

"That's because I don't watch Saturday morning cartoons," she mumbled. Lily laughed, loving the affectionate banter between the siblings.

"Come on, Lil," James said, ignoring her laughter. "I'll give you the grand tour."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Starr whispered to Sirius and Remus, "That's our cue."

James was leading Lily around the Potter Mansion, showing her every room and explaining everything she needed to know about each of them, unaware of the fact that Sirius was following them closely under James' Invisibility Cloak. "That's your room?" Lily inquired.

"Yeah," James nodded, watching her intently. "What is it?"

"It's so… messy. It's like a pig sty, James," she laughed.

He laughed along with her. "What did you expect?"

"Nothing less," she said, boring her emerald eyes into his hazel ones. Sensing it was time for him to move, Sirius crept forward quietly, gently nudging James closer to Lily. Unfortunately, James was caught off-balance and toppled forward, falling onto Lily. They were both lying the floor, their lips inches apart.

"Sorry," James coughed, hastily getting up off of her and helping her up. "Now, let me show you Starr's room…"

"So those two idiots had their lips inches apart and he just rolled off of her? And she let him?" Remus asked incredulously. He slapped his hand to his forehead. "They're both in love with each other, but too thick to do anything about it. Are we ever going to get them together?"

Starr sighed, looking up from _Quidditch Through the Ages_. "You two have been trying for years to get them together. Why don't you let somebody else try?" she asked, closing the book in her lap.

"What are you saying?" Sirius asked, cocking his head at her.

Starr stood up, head lifted high. "What I'm saying is," she said, "step aside wannabes, and let the pro have a go."

"You?" Sirius said, letting loose a bark-like laugh. "Nova, how are you possibly going to get them together if Moony and I can't?"

"James is my older brother. I think I know him pretty well. Lily's one of my best friends. I think I know her pretty well, too," she said. Remus and Sirius still looked unconvinced. "Trust me. I've got this."

"All right," Remus said reluctantly. "Take a shot, Nova."

"Moony's right," Sirius said, smiling broadly at her, "you deserve a chance. You're an honorary Marauder, after all."

She brightened, asking, "Does that mean I can come along tonight? Tonight being a full moon and all?"

"No," Remus said firmly, looking paler than usual due to the full moon. "James will never let you, especially since you're not an Animagus."

"Shit," she muttered. "You're right." She picked up her book and headed towards the door saying, "I'll see you all later."

As soon as she had left, Sirius turned to Remus and asked, "Do you really think she can pull this off?"

"Well," Moony said thoughtfully, "she is Prongs' sister."

"True," Sirius said, flashing him a grin, "but even if she doesn't, I do know one thing."

Remus looked at him warily. "And what would that be?"

"We're in for a real treat this summer."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I only own Starr and the plot line. Read and review please! Enjoy. **

Chapter 2

"So… Lily… what's up with you?" Starr and Lily were lying on Starr's massive bed, paging through various issues of "Witch Weekly".

"Hmmm?" said Lily distractedly. "Oh, nothing much. I'm just glad I'm here. I don't think I could've made it through another day without strangling Horsy," she said, referring to her sister, Petunia. "James is so lucky to have a sister like you." She smiled brightly at Starr, who grinned back.

"Thanks," she said, bracing herself as she prepared to move on to the next topic. "You and my brother have really come a long way."

"Yeah," Lily said, looking thoughtful. "He's just about my best friend… along with you, Sirius, and Remus, of course." Starr grinned at her.

"I know," she said simply. "But do you ever… do you ever feel something more?" Lily blushed furiously. "You do!" Starr gasped, clapping her hands together happily. "I knew it!"

"You'll tell no one," Lily said, looking dangerously at her. "Swear?"

"What about Sirius and Remus?" she pouted. "They'll be so disappointed."

"Ugh," Lil grimaced. "Fine. Swear?"

"I swear," Starr said. She spit into her right hand, offering it to Lily to shake. Lily spit in her own hand and they shook on it.

"Now enough about me," Lil said, glancing at Starr, a familiar wicked glint in her emerald green eyes. "What about you?"

"What about me?" she said, blushing a bit, getting the feeling that she knew what was coming.

Before she said anything, Lily stood and shut the door, grinning wickedly at the raven-haired girl before her. She sat next to her, saying, "What about you and Sirius?"

Starr felt, rather than saw, her cheeks reddening furiously and she was sure her flush now gave Lily's hair a run for its money. "I dunno," she shrugged, biting her lower lip. "I've been spending a lot of time with him lately, but I still have no idea who he fancies."

"James would know," Lily said, blushing at the thought of him. "Why don't you just tell him the truth?"

"James would laugh at me," Starr said, shaking her head.

"No, he wouldn't," Lily insisted. "Okay, maybe he would. But only for a bit and he wouldn't hold it over your head. I know you two tease each other, but he loves you. He cares about you and he wouldn't laugh at something he knew was important to you."

"You know him almost as well as I do," Starr laughed.

"Right you are," Lil laughed. "Now go!" She guided her friend towards the door, opening it and shoving her out of it unceremoniously. Standing up, Starr brushed herself off, chuckling quietly. She made her way to her brother's room, which was right across the hall. She knocked on the door.

"Hold on!" came the muffled cry from inside the room. James opened the door, smiling at seeing his younger sister. "What's up, sis?"

"Can I come in?" she asked nervously, not wanting to proclaim her love for Sirius in the hallway.

"'Course, Starr," he said, stepping aside to let her in. She laid down on his bed, not bothering to ask for permission. He shut the door behind her, lying down next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Listen, James," she said, biting her lip. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Shoot," he said, propping himself up on one elbow and watching his sister intently.

"I sort of… I sort of…" she said. She tried to finished the sentence, but the last half of it was caught in the back of her throat, coming out as some sort of grunt.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that," he said, grinning at her, bemused.

She sucked in her breath, plucking up her Gryffindor courage before she could chicken out. "I fancy Sirius," she spit out, her hazel eyes shut.

She heard him chuckle. "Nova, Nova, Nova…" he said, shaking his head at her, "you honestly didn't think I'd figured that out?"

"No, I didn't. I thought I'd hid it pretty well," she said, grinning wryly at him.

"You did," he said earnestly. "The only reason I know is because I've lived with you for sixteen years. I bet you told Lils, as well, am I right?" She nodded at his knowing grin. "And I expect you want me to tell you who he fancies?"

"I'll be your bestest friend!" she wheedled, knowing her grammar was atrocious.

"Sorry," he smirked. "I'm sworn to secrecy. Marauder's oath, you know."

She groaned. "Will you ever let me join you guys on a full moon?" That wiped his smirk right off his handsome face.

"No, Starr," he said firmly.

"What if I became in Animagus?" she offered.

"No!" he said, his jaw clenching now. He relaxed, softening his voice. "Starr Emma Potter, you're my sister. I love you and I can't let you get hurt, which is bound to happen if you're near a werewolf."

"Fine," she said grudgingly. "It's almost eleven," she said quietly, pointing at the clock on his nightstand. He paled.

"Thanks for remind me," he said. "See you later. You and Lily stay in the house." He hugged her, kissing her on the forehead as he left.

"So?" Lily asked expectantly, grinning as Starr reentered her bedroom, flopping down her bed.

"I told him," she said. "And he already knew."

"Really?" Lily gaped. "Sirius doesn't know, does he?"

Laughing, Starr shook her head. "No. James says the only reason he figured it out is because he knows me too well after living with me for sixteen years," she replied.

"Your brother…" Lily sighed, lying back onto the bed, her red hair clashing horribly with the dark blue comforter, "is amazing. Handsome, sexy, sweet, caring, considerate, athletic, noble…"

"You're a goner," Starr chuckled. "What first turned you onto him anyway? You used to not be able to stay in the same room as him."

"You," Lily said simply. Seeing her friend's startled look, she added, "Well, when you first came to Hogwarts, we were in our second year. I thought of him as an arrogant, bullying toe rag. But you brought out another side of him… a loving, tender, caring side… of course, you and I became good friends, but I still couldn't stand him, but I found myself making excuses for him when I knew that I should be mad at him."

Starr smiled. "Glad I could be of service."

"Hey, what's with this whole 'Nova' thing?" Lily asked, giggling.

"Oh," she said, waving her hand in the air. "According to James, Sirius, and Remus, I'm an honorary Marauder, so I needed a nickname. Since my name is Starr, like the word 'star', it somehow made Sirius think of a supernova… which was shortened to Nova."

"Where are the boys?" Lily asked suddenly after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Lils…" Starr said, a worried look crossing her face, "it's a full moon tonight."

"Ah, right," Lily said, adopting the same worried look Starr had on her face. "Will they be okay?"

"I hope so," she said. "I worry about them a lot."

"Me too," Lily sighed. Hesitantly, the girls made their way to Starr's window, which overlook the humongous Potter estate. Quite a few yards away, the girls could just make out three dots running around. Sighing, Lily forced herself to look away when she caught sight of an outfit in Starr's closet. "Nova…" she said slowly.

"Hmmm?" Starr responded, tearing her eyes away from the window.

"I know how you can catch Sirius," Lily said, a wicked gleam in her emerald green eyes.

"How?" Starr asked, her interest peaking.

Lily grinned, showing her the outfit she had in her closet. She smirked, "This."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Still don't own anything. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep it up. Enjoy. And I promise, one of the couples gets together in this chapter! **

Chapter 3

The next morning, Remus, James, and Sirius were at the breakfast table, stuffing their faces with Mrs. Potter's amazing cooking. They were scratched and bruised and a little pale, but not severely damaged. Well, Sirius wasn't until Starr and Lily came prancing down the stairs. Lily was beautiful as usual, and decently dressed, wearing jeans and a green tank top. "Morning," she chirped, admiring her handiwork that was Starr's new outfit.

"Bloody hell," Sirius mumbled, his voice low and husky. Starr was wearing a denim miniskirt, her long, lean legs nicely exposed. Her black tank top showed off her toned stomach and exposed a small strip of bare skin when she stretched her arms just so. Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, just a few stray strands falling into her beautiful hazel eyes. She sat down next to him.

"How was last night?" she asked brightly, piling scrambled eggs onto her plate. She hazarded a glance at James, almost afraid of his reaction. She found him, however, covering his laughter by drinking orange juice, almost choking as he swallowed. He winked at her, as if to say, _Nice work, sis_.

"It was, uh… uhh…," Sirius stammered. Lily exchanged knowing glances with Starr, stifling her giggling with extreme difficulty. James clapped him on the back, snapping his friend out of his trance. "It was okay. Not worse than usual."

"Good to hear," Starr said. "Lily and I always worry about you lot on full moons."

Sirius stammered his thanks, which set both Remus and James off, laughing silently into their drinks.

As they were leaving breakfast, Starr pulled Remus and Sirius back, whispering, "Meet me by the lake at half past eleven tonight." She scampered off, calling, "Lily! Wait for me!"

Remus chuckled at Sirius' stunned expression. "Padfoot?" he said.

"Hmmm?" came the reply, Sirius staring longingly at Starr's retreating figure.

Remus laughed even harder. "You're a goner, mate."

Starr found Sirius and Remus waiting for her by the lake; she was a few minutes, late because Lily had held her up with questions about James. "Hey," she said, coming up behind them.

"Hey, Nova," Remus said brightly. "Sit down."

She sat down in between the two of them as Sirius muttered, "Hey."

"I talked to Lily last night," she said.

"What'd she say?" Sirius asked, perking up now that he had something else to think about.

"Well… she fancies Remus," Starr joked.

"What?" Remus jumped about two feet into the air.

"I'm just joking," she giggled. "No, she actually fancies James."

"That's more like it," he said weakly, sitting back down.

"And that helps how, O Great One?" Sirius asked mockingly, talking to her normally again.

"At least we know how she feels…" she said slowly. "But I think I have an idea."

"What?" Remus asked eagerly, leaning closer to her.

"Tongue-Loosening Draught," she replied, grinning wickedly.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Sirius said excitedly. "That's brilliant! Why didn't we think of that, Moony?"

"Because," Remus said patiently, "neither of us is that good at Potions."

"But I am," Starr pointed out. "And since you were too proud to ask for my help earlier, it's going to be on your shoulders… they could've had all those years, and you two and your pride and ignorance took those precious moments away…"

Sirius laughed. "All right, all right," he admitted. "We should've asked for your help long ago. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," Remus chuckled.

"I'm sorry… who?" Starr asked, a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

Sirius blushed, saying, "I'm sorry… O Brilliant One."

She giggled. "Well, I was just looking for Starr or Nova, but that'll work, too." She turned to Remus. "Can you look for a book in my parents' library tomorrow that has the ingredients and directions?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I can manage that."

"And I'll brew it," she said.

"Oooh! Can I slip it into their drinks when it's ready?" Sirius asked excitedly.

Starr pretended to be hesitant, screwing up her face and saying, "Oh, I don't really know, Sirius…"

"Please, oh please, oh please!" he begged, giving her his puppy dog eyes.

"Aw, no!" she said, covering her eyes with her hands. "Not the puppy dog eyes! Last time you used those you got me to shave off half my hair!"

"Hey, it grew back overnight!" he pointed out, laughing at the memory.

"That's because I was furious," she said. "It was accidental magic." She sighed. "Fine. You can slip it into their drinks."

"Yes!" he cried, punching the air victoriously.

"Okay. I'm going to call it a night," she said, standing up. Remus followed her, leaving Sirius alone by the lake.

Suddenly, he whipped his head around; he knew what he had to do. "STARR!" he bellowed. In the distance, he vaguely saw her turn around. He ran to her so quickly that he was out of breath by the time he reached her.

"Sirius?" she asked, as he leaned on his knees, panting heavily. "What is it?"

"Why did you wear that today?" he asked, gesturing to the outfit she still had on.

"This?" she said, looking down at it. He nodded. "I dunno. I felt like it."

"You felt like torturing me?" he questioned. She almost didn't believe what she had heard, until she looked into his eyes. His warm chocolate eyes were filled with emotion and she knew he had meant what he had said.

"What is that torture?" she managed to choke out.

"Because," he said, making up his mind. "Because I know I can't do this."

He grabbed her by the waist, drawing her into a kiss. It was sweet, surprisingly chaste. Her hands made their way to his long dark hair, her fingers tangling themselves in the strands. She broke off the kiss, gasping for breath and resting her head on his shoulder. "You can do that," she panted at him, grinning widely, "anytime you want."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep it up, please. Enjoy. Sorry about the pun at the end, but I couldn't resist!**

Chapter 4

Starr barely noticed where she was walking, making it to Lily's room without bumping into anything through sheer luck. Her mind was still reeling from Sirius' kiss. She opened the door, mumbling a 'hi' to Lily and collapsing onto her friend's bed in a fit of giggles. "What's wrong with you?" Lily asked, sounding genuinely concerned for Starr's well-being.

She sat up, fighting to keep her laughter under control. "Sirius… Sirius," she said, attempting to utter a full sentence, but failing miserably, her laughter getting the better of her.

"Use your grown-up words, Nova," Lily encouraged patronizingly, using her nickname.

"Sirius kissed me," she finally giggled. Lily gaped at her, her red hair falling into her face.

"Are you serious?" she asked. Starr nodded and giggled even more. Lily embraced her tightly, squealing in happiness. "That's great, Starr!"

"Your plan worked," Starr smirked, pulling away from the hug. Lily smiled widely at her.

"Just call me genius."

Without thinking, Sirius made his way back to James' room, wondering how his best mate would take the news. He knocked on the door. "Just a minute," came James' grunt. He opened the door, wearing nothing but his boxers to sleep in. "Padfoot?" he said, seeing the dazed look on Sirius' face, "what's with you?"

He pushed past him, hearing the click of the door behind him. He sucked in a deep breath, before spitting it all out: "I kissed Starr."

"What?" James gaped at him. "You finally got the guts to kiss my sister?" Sirius nodding, hoping James wouldn't take it the wrong way. Quite the opposite, James smiled, pulling his best friend in for a man-hug.

"Thanks, Prongs," Sirius grinned. "Are you, uh… okay with this?"

"Absolutely," James grinned. "As long as you give up your reputation for being a player."

"Now, James, you know I'm not a one-girl kind of guy," Sirius said, watching the grin fade from his friends' face, "but there's something about Starr… I can't imagine kissing anyone other than her after that."

James grinned. "Good. Because even though you are my best mate, family comes first. And if you break her heart, I break you."

"Deal," Sirius said, shaking on it with the black-haired boy. He headed towards his own room, still thinking about the kiss. Grinning to himself, he muttered, "Damn."

The next morning found the girls down to breakfast earlier than the boys. "At least we know there's food left for us," Lily snorted, referring to the display of the boys' eating abilities the previous morning.

"I know, right?" Starr said, piling hash browns onto her plate. "My mum's an amazing cook."

"I've noticed," Lily said, relishing the flavor of the food. "How do you and your brother stay so skinny with all this good food?"

"Quidditch," Starr shrugged, spooning scrambled eggs into her mouth now. The boys finally trotted down the stairs, following the smell of food. Sirius flashed Starr a brilliant smile, which she heartily returned as he took the seat across from her. She almost immediately felt his foot on hers, rubbing against it comfortingly. She giggled. James and Lily exchanged amused glances with each other, happy for their friends. Remus merely looked confused.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Did I miss something?" Without warning, the other four burst into hysterical laughter at his confusion. "What?" he demanded, a slightly annoyed look to his eyes now.

"Moony," James gasped through his laughter, "Sirius and Starr are… they're together." Remus spit out the orange juice he had in his mouth, spraying James who was sitting across from him. "Dude," he said angrily, cleaning himself off, "say it, don't spray it."

"You finally did something about it, Padfoot?" Remus asked, grinning toothily at Sirius.

"That's right, Moony," he replied, smiling widely at Starr.

"Wait a minute," she said, chewing on her food thoughtfully, "how long has this been going on for?"

"Oh, _ages_," James moaned exasperatedly. "He's liked you for ages and he's been moaning and whining about it ever since."

"And you didn't tell me?" she shrieked, her voice rising several octaves within a matter of seconds.

"I told you," he said patiently, "I was sworn to secrecy. I would've told you if I hadn't been."

"You knew she fancied me?" Sirius said, spitting out a bite of toast he had just taken. "You said nothing! How long did you know?"

"Ages," James muttered, looking down at his plate with interest. "I was sworn to secrecy on both sides, okay? Can we not pick on James now?"

"Sure," Lily said, giving both Sirius and Starr warning looks. "But why is James talking in the third person?"

He grinned at her cheekily, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks. "Because James has lost it."

Remus, Sirius, and Starr met down by the den. "Remus, you ready to go look for that Potions book?" Starr asked.

"Yeah. I'll come find you two when I've got it, eh?" he said, starting to walk off.

"Catch you later," Sirius called after him. He and Starr stood side by side against the wall. "So…"

"What?" she asked, grinning at him broadly. He returned her grin, butterflies erupting in her stomach. He said nothing, he just wordlessly drew her into a kiss. This kiss was nothing like the one from last night. He wasn't as cautious as he had been the night before, no longer afraid that she would reject him. One hand pressed into her hip, the other found itself in her jet black hair, his fingers entwined in the dark strands. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his hot tongue swept against her mouth cautiously. She opened her mouth to his, her tongue dancing in sync with his. His taste clouded her senses beyond belief as her knees gave out and she slumped against him. He moaned into her mouth in pleasure, low and deep. His hands were just pressing into her back, pulling her even closer to him, when-

"Shit!" Sirius and Starr sprung apart to face their intruder. "Sorry!" James said, hastily gathering the food he had dropped. "Lily said she was hungry and wanted food, so I came to get it and I decided to take the shortcut up to my room… again, sorry."

"It's okay, Prongs," Sirius said, deciding to hazard a glance at his best mate.

"Yeah, it's fine, bro," Starr said, flashing him a small smile. "See you later?"

"Yeah, definitely," he said, running from the awkward situation. As soon as he was gone, Starr leaned against Sirius, breathing in his scent.

"I cannot believe," Sirius said, running his hands through her hair, "your brother just walked in on us snogging."

She giggled into his chest. "Neither can I," she said. "That was so embarrassing."

"You didn't show it," he said. "For all I could tell, you were having a normal conversation with him. Do you think he's pissed?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. You might want to let me handle him first," she suggested.

"Better you than me," he grinned, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Hey, Nova?" he asked. She lifted her hazel eyes to look up at him, her mouth curving into a smile.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" he asked. She pressed her lips to his briefly.

"Yes," she whispered, her sweet breath tickling his ear.

"You know," he said, "this is the first time I've been serious with a girl."

She chuckled to herself, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Really? Who have you been then? Lucius Malfoy?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for the reviews and keep it up please! Enjoy! The Lily/James plot line is coming more into focus now, don't worry!**

Chapter 5

"Starr, summer's nearly over, is that damn Tongue-Loosening Draught ready yet?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.

"Almost," she said, stirring the potion while half-listening to him, peering into the cauldron carefully. She realized what he had said and snapped back to reality. "It's not my bloody fault it takes two and half month to brew it. So shut it."

Remus sighed. "Will you two stop bickering like an old married couple?" he asked. "I can't believe it; you'd think a whole summer together would be enough to get anyone together."

"It was for me," Sirius muttered, grinning at Starr sheepishly. She rolled her hazel eyes at him, but grinned affectionately at him.

"But they're more hopeless than ever," Starr finished for Remus. "Did you know Lily actually had a wet dream about James last night?"

"What?" Sirius stammered, choking on his own spit. "And you know this how?"

"We girls talk about everything," she shrugged, sprinkling a few dashes of God-knows-what into the cauldron. "This will be ready in two days' time."

"Two days?" Remus exclaimed. "In two days, it'll be September the first. Do you know what happens September the first?"

"You start PMSing?" Sirius suggested.

"No," Remus snorted. "On September the first, we go back to Hogwarts!"

"I'm well aware of that Moony, thank you," Starr said patiently. "It'll be the perfect opportunity. Lily's been made Head Girl and James has been made Head Boy. Perfect, I tell you!"

"Yeah, whatever you say," Sirius mumbled. "But remind me- how did James become Head Boy again?"

"Dumbledore must've been dropped on his head when he was a child," Starr shrugged. "Either that or he's finally gone off his rocker."

"So did you do it?" Starr whispered in Sirius' ear as they boarded the Hogwarts Express.

"Yes," he said as her sweet breath tickled his ear. "Do I get a reward for being a sneaky little Marauder?"

"Ew," James said, wrinkling his nose as he came up behind them. "What kind of sick games do you two play?"

Starr rolled her eyes at her brother. "Remember when you were pissed because you caught Sirius and me snogging in the den?"

"How could I forget?" James asked. "I'm scarred for life. I saw my best mate and my sister shoving their tongues down each other's throats."

"Please," Starr scoffed. "I'm a girl, we don't 'shove'. But do you remember what I told you?"

"Yeah, you said to loosen up or you'd do it for me," he said. "What exactly did that mean?"

"Oh, I dunno," she shrugged. "But I'm sure I can come up with something." Seeing his scared look, she laughed, "I'm just kidding, bro. You know I love you."

Chuckling, James hugged his younger sister. "I've got to go to a meeting. With Lily," he said, winking at them. "See you later."

"Bye," Sirius said. Remus, Lily, and James were going to the meeting and Peter was nowhere to be found. "So…" he said slyly, "do I get my reward?"

"You most certainly do," she grinned at him, kissing him for several long moments.

"How long will it take for the Tongue-Loosening Draught to work?" he asked.

"About twelve hours for the full effect, but it'll just start to work sometime in the afternoon," she replied, sitting on his lap. "By the feast they should both be proclaiming their undying love for each other."

He chuckled. "Do you think they'll murder us?"

"Probably," Starr admitted. "But soon they'll be thanking. Besides, last time James tried to hex me he ended up in the Hospital Wing looking like a smaller version of the giant squid."

Starr was right. Halfway through the train ride, Lily and James were already beginning to let slip things they quite obviously wanted to keep under wraps. "Stop trying to flatten your hair," Lily whined and James mussed about with it hopelessly. "It looks sexy when it's messed up." She blushed, realizing what she had said as he gaped at her.

"Thanks, Lil," he said faintly. "That lip gloss you're wearing is really great stuff. It makes your lips look irresistible…" Remus, Sirius, and Starr fought off the urge to laugh hysterically as Peter merely looked confused and left out. James turned bright red, his face more fiery than Lily's hair, if at all possible.

"Nova, you are a certified genius!" Remus hissed in her ear, laughing at James and Lily.

"I agree with Moony," Sirius said, kissing her lightly on the cheek as he joined in on their whispered conversation. "I can't wait to see what they're like at the feast. When does it wear off?"

"It'll wear by the time they wake up tomorrow morning," Starr assured them.

Peter leaned in, whispering, "Did I miss something?"

"Peter, you'd miss a Bludger if it was singing in front of you while doing the Macarena," Sirius said.

He sighed. "Story of my life."

"I hope he doesn't talk for too long, I'm starving!" Lily hissed in Starr's ear as Dumbledore stood just as the Sorting finished.

"I know, me too," Starr whispered back. "Though Dumledore's usually not too wordy before the feast."

"To all our new students, welcome!" Dumbledore said loudly. "Congratulations on being accepting to Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wiazardry. To all our return students, welcome back! I trust you'll have another memorable year here at Hogwarts, full of learning and adventure. Now, I don't mean to keep you waiting, so I'll-" However, Dumbledore was cut off as James stood from his seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Er, Professor Dumbledore, sir?" he said, looking confused, as if he had no idea what was compelling him to do this. "I have something to say."

"Very well, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, looking confused but pleased all at once. "Why don't you join me up here?" Slowly, almost painfully, James made his way towards the High Table. Lily gaped shamelessly at him.

"Exactly how much did you put in their goblets this morning, Sirius?" Starr hissed in her boyfriend's ear.

"Um, well," he said, screwing his eyes up as he tried to remember, "I think I put about three dashes in each. Why?"

Her hazel eyes grew wide with horror. "You were only supposed to put a drop in each! Weren't you listening when I told you that last night?"

"I was staring into your beautiful eyes?" he tried, flashing her an apologetic grin. She sighed and shook her head.

"This ought to be interesting," she mumbled as her brother finally reached the High Table.

"H-how's everybody doing?" James stammered. There were mumbled replies from nearly everyone as James was well-liked; only the Slytherins remained silent, staring at him maliciously. "W-well, I just wanted to take this chance to say hi and welcome back and-" he paused, looking suspiciously like he was fighting with himself over what to say next, "-and to make another announcement."

Every eye in the Great Hall was turned to him with interest. "As you all know, I've fancied Lily Evans for quite a few years," he started.

Sirius added in a shout, "Only for forever, mate!"

James blushed furiously before continuing, "And now I'm proud to announce that I'm totally and completely in love with her! Her hair, her personality, her smile, her laugh… her everything… I've even got a song to sing!" He seemed to have totally lost control of himself now.

"Bloody hell," Remus muttered as Starr gaped silently at her older brother. Lily was blushing furiously, her face as red has her hair, but looking beyond joyful all the same.

"Why isn't Lily up there as well?" Sirius asked Starr.

"I dunno," she shrugged. James was now singing horribly to Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". Most people were covering their ears, writhing in pain. Despite this, most of the girls were swooning over him, saying how sweet it was that he loved Lily enough to embarrass himself in front of the whole school, something people would be talking about for years to come.

Suddenly, Lily stood rather noisily, shouting, "Damn it, James! Stop singing, you're going to break something!" He looked at her shocked as she made her way towards him. "You don't need to sing to win my heart. You're sweet, caring, funny, brilliant, sexy as hell," she said, as he grinned widely at her. "Not to mention you've got the tightest ass around." She seemed confused as well, wondering why on earth she was doing this.

"L-Lily, I d-didn't know," he said quietly, grinning widely at the redhead in front of him. "I, uh, um, erm…" he stammered, unsure of what to say.

Lily rolled her eyes at him, her hand fisting in his tie. "James, just shut up and kiss me." She drew into a kiss, their lips crashing as the fireworks exploded. Literally. In celebration, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Starr had set off magical firework which exploded with a loud bang and multiplied. Dumbledore smiled as James and Lily broke apart, a laughing twinkle in his eye. Even McGonagall didn't have to heart to say anything about their public display of affection and clapped and cheered along with Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. "Just promise me one thing, James," Lily said, her lips just inches from his, so tempting…

"Anything at all, love," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She grinned wickedly at him. "Never sing again."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I own nothing (except for Starr). Thanks for the reviews, keep it up please! Enjoy. **

Chapter 6

The whispering in the Gryffindor common room was deafening, mainly due to Lily and James' little display at the feast. Afterwards, Remus, Sirius, and Starr and pulled them aside and explained what they had done. After Lily kept James from strangling the three of them ("You'll only end up one nut less than before, James!" she insisted), they thanked them.

"You did a good thing," James told them, somewhat grudgingly. Starr rolled her eyes at him, so he said, sincerely, "Thanks. I mean it."

Now, if at all possibly, the whispers became even louder as Sirius and Starr entered the common room for the first time since the previous school year. "Black and Potter?" "How long will that really last?" "What was she thinking? She could have nearly any boy in Hogwarts!"

Hearing these, Sirius looked down at Starr anxiously, seeming afraid the he wasn't good enough for her. She just smiled up at him, whispering, "Ignore them, Sirius. It doesn't matter." He returned her smile, but bit his lip, not particularly enjoying being the center of attention, just this once. She saw this and suggested, "Let's get out of here. I rather fancy a walk down by the lake, don't you?"

Meanwhile James and Lily were exploring their new living quarters that they would be sharing this school year. "I can't believe they did that," Lily said, still thinking about how Remus, Sirius, and Starr had spiked their drinks with Tongue-Loosening Draught. "I'm so embarrassed."

"That's not Starr's and Remus' faults thought," James pointed out. "Sirius should've listened to her when she was talking to him. Though I must say, I'm sure we were quite entertaining."

She laughed. "True, true." She kissed him for several long moments, before deepening the kiss. His hot tongue swept against her mouth and she eagerly opened it to him, adrenaline rushing into her blood stream. Her taste clouded his senses as he moaned deeply, her arms clinging to his neck desperately. They finally pulled apart, gasping for breath.

"How long have you loved me?" he asked, trailing kisses down her neck.

She gasped in pleasure. "About a year," she said, her words ending on a breathy moan. He gaped at her before resuming his activities, which mostly involved nibbling on her ear now. "Your sister played a big part."

He pulled away, looking shocked. Soon his surprised expression was replaced with a cheeky grin. "What did that girl do?"

"Well, I used to think of you as an arrogant, bullying toe rag, yeah?" she said.

"Don't remind me," he groaned as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"But she always brought out a different side of you. In first year, when I heard you had a younger sister, I imagined that you tortured her and that she hated you, but it was quite the opposite," she said, still a bit breathless. "Then she became my best friend, and she always had a good word to put in for you."

"Remind me to thank her later," he said, grasping her hips tightly with his strong hands.

"I will," she replied, "and I need to thank her as well." She kissed him deeply for a few moments as he grinned against her lips, pulling her towards the couch. He felt a good, celebratory snog was in order.

"Sirius? Are you okay?" Starr's voice jolted Sirius back to the present; his mind had been wandering since hearing the whispers in the common room.

"'Course," he replied, sounding uncertain even to his own ears. The reality was that he was wondering if there was a grain of truth behind the whispers. What if he wasn't good enough for Starr? He had always had a reputation of being a player, often dumping girls after a few days because he got "bored". But there was something different about her, he could feel it… he'd never felt this way about any other girl. He knew he could never bring himself to cheat on her, and he highly doubted he'd ever get bored of her. However, he decided to voice his worries aloud. "Starr?"

"Hmmm?" she said absentmindedly, looking up at him with her clear hazel eyes. His heart did some sort of jig in his chest, refusing to stay still as her eyes probed his intently.

"You heard what they were saying in the common room, yeah?" he said, taking her hands in his. His thumb absentmindedly traced circles on the palm of her hand.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Why?"

"D'you… you don't think they're right, do you?" he asked anxiously, suddenly becoming extremely interested in his shoes.

"Of course not, Padfoot," she scoffed. "If I did, I wouldn't be with you now, would I?"

He grinned a bit at her, answering, "I guess not." He sighed, before adding, "Though you could probably have any boy in Hogwarts, if you wanted. You're beautiful, talented, a bloody brilliant witch and Seeker, and your personality is to die for." She blushed at his praise, her hazel eyes glowing happily.

"Even if I could have any boy I wanted," she whispered, her grip on his hands tightening, "I only want you, Sirius." She sighed. "I know you have this reputation for being a player, but I'm hoping you won't live up to it."

"Nova," he said, kissing her hand softly, "I can't see myself with any other girl now." She smiled and he added, "Besides, James so kindly reminded me that if I break your heart, he'll break me."

"That's my brother," she chuckled softly. "And I love him." They sat on the green grass, leaning against the beech tree by the Black Lake. He kissed her tenderly, glad for presence and her reassurance. Her hands flew to his hair; she loved the feel of the dark strands slipping through her fingers. He kissed her more urgently, needing to taste her again. She parted her mouth, allowing him entrance as she moaned into his mouth. He felt her lips curve into a smile against his lips as she grinned happily. Slowly, cautiously, he reached just under her shirt, his warm hand splaying against her toned abdomen as her muscles shivered at his touch. Her hands were now pressed against his chest, his skin burning where he touched her flesh. He finally pulled away, breathless and glanced down at her. She, too, was gasping for breath, her rosy lips red and swollen.

"Nova," he said slowly, "I don't know if I've told you this, but… I love you."

She grinned massively at him, before pressing her lips to his again briefly. "I love you, too."

"Damn that Potter!" Severus Snape was ranting in the Slytherin common room.

"Severus," drawled Mulciber, "if you really want that… that Mudblood so badly, I can help."

Severus choked back a retort of "don't call her that". Instead, he forced himself to say, "How?"

Mulciber smirked. "All we need to do is catch her alone."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Don't sue, it's not nice. Thanks for all the reviews and please keep doing it! I love them! Enjoy. **

Chapter 7

"So," Lily said groggily at the breakfast table the next morning, "where did you and Sirius disappear to last night?"

Starr blushed furiously, muttering, "The lake." She then turned her hazel eyes towards Lily, questioning, "What did you and James do last night?"

It was Lily's turn to blush, her face again rivaling her hair. "We talked," she replied simply.

"Please," Starr snorted. "It's more like you spent your time snogging."

"Well," Lily amended, "we did. But then we talked for a long time."

"Sirius and I talked too," she said.

"I'll be he was worried about all the whispers about you two, eh?" she said. Starr nodded. "James and I heard a few of them when we visited the common room. James actually punched someone who said that you must've become a slut if you were going out with Sirius."

"You didn't take points away from Gryffindor did you?" Starr questioned, raising a black brow at her best friend.

"Well," Lily said slowly, "maybe I did, maybe I didn't. And maybe I kicked that same jackass in the groin, and maybe I didn't."

Starr laughed, but then resumed her serious expression. "Yeah, Sirius was really worried, but I think… I think he really loves me," she said softly. "He told me so. Last night."

"Really?" Lily gaped. "Oh, Starr- congratulations!" She hugged her friend ecstatically. "That's great." She smiled brightly at her, adding, "All I want is for you to be happy."

At that moment, the Marauders made their way into the Great Hall. The girls shut up, immediately resuming their eating activities. "Good morning, my lovely Starr," Sirius said, smiling down at her as he sat. He draped his arm around her shoulders, planting a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Morning, Sirius," she replied cheerfully, spreading butter onto her toast. Meanwhile, James gave Lily a long kiss on the lips, settling down on Lily's other side.

"Did you guys hear what they were saying about you in the common room last night?" James asked, disgusted.

"James!" Lily cried. "I already talked to them about it and _yes_, they did!"

"And I had just forgotten about them, thank you very much!" retorted Sirius. He forked a piece of greasy bacon into his mouth, his other arm still draped around Starr. "Don't worry about them; it's their problem, not ours. Nothing's going to come in between us."

"I'm off to go do rounds, Starr," Lily said, dropping by the sixth year girls' dormitory quickly to let someone know where she was headed.

"But it's a full moon, Lils," Starr said, looking up from her latest copy of "Witch Weekly". "Who's going to patrol with you?"

Lily shrugged. "I'll be find on my own," she shrugged. "I can take care of myself, Starr."

"Whatever you say, Lilypad," Starr sighed, turning back to her magazine. "I'll see you later." Lily smiled at her before leaving to go do rounds. Starr sighed wistfully. It had been two weeks since Sirius dropped the L-word and she happily reminisced about a happy hour they had spent out on the grounds next Sunday.

_Starr lay on her back on the soft, springy grass, Sirius on top of her. He pressed his lips to hers. "God, you're torturing me, Starr," he moaned. _

_Her hazel eyes twinkled at him questioningly. "What makes you say that?" _

_"I can't take my eyes off of you even for a second, Nova," he whispered, his breath washing over her face. "When you kiss me, I lose my head. God, Starr, I'd do anything for me. I'd even die for you." She froze, her facial expression unreadable. "Starr, what?" he asked, a concerned expression spreading across her face. "What did I say wrong?" _

_"Nothing, nothing," she replied hastily. "Can we just not talking about you dying?" _

_He cocked his head at her. "Why not?" _

_She grimaced. "I can't stand the thought." _

_"Are you sure I didn't say anything wrong?" he clarified, frowning at her. _

_"Sirius," she moaned, "that must be just about the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." _

_He kissed her longingly, his fingers softly trailing her jaw. He kissed her again and again and again, as if he couldn't get quite enough of her. "You've got this hold on me," he explained. He kissed her again, feeling her moan into his mouth. "The truth is I don't really want to ever be free." _

She opened her eyes again, glancing at the clock. It was quarter 'til ten. She decided to ignore what Lily had said about being able to take care of herself and to go keep her company at least. Sighing, she tucked her oxford shirt into her solid gray skirt. She donned her Hogwarts blazer and hung her Gryffindor tie loosely around her neck. She grabbed her wand and the Marauder's Map which she had borrowed from James and left through the portrait hole. "I wonder where Lily is," she muttered. Tapping her wand on the apparently blank piece of parchment, she whispered, "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_." She scanned the map, looking for Lily's dot. Finally, she found the dot labeled "Lily Evans" in a corridor on the third floor. "What the…?" Right next to Lily's dot was a dot labeled "Severus Snape".

Starr swore under her breath. She was now nearing Lily's location and Snape's dot still hadn't moved. It was practically right on top of Lily's. She knew Lily would never cheat on James; she hadn't spoken to Severus since her fifth year. She paused, hearing voices around the corner. "_Mischief managed!_" she hissed, tapping her wand to the map again. It wiped itself blank as she stowed it in her shirt pocket. Wand at the ready, she rounded the corner.

"Severus, stop it!" Lily shrieked. Anger boiled in Starr's stomach as she absorbed the scene: Snape had disarmed Lily, her willow wand discarded on the floor. He was holding her wrists firmly, trying to kiss her over and over again. "Stop it!"

"You don't want Potter," he spat. "Lily, you know me… I love you." Lily looked thoughtful, as if she were actually considering his offer. Then she broke into a wicked grin and spat in his face.

"Never, **Snivellus**," she said, her mouth twisting into a smirk.

"You filthy Mudblood," he snarled.

"_Impedimenta!_" Starr shrieked, unable to bear being inactive any longer. He whipped around to face her, dodging her hex through pure luck. Fear grew in his black eyes- Starr was easily the brightest witch in her year, and she'd easily overpower him. He turned and ran like the coward he was as she yelled after him, "That's right, you'd better run!"

She took off after him, failing to hear Lily yell, "Starr! Be careful! It's a full moon!"

Starr's mind was only in one place as she chased Severus through the corridors, heading towards the Entrance Hall- catching him and hexing him so badly that he started going backwards. She didn't realize however, as she chased Snape, promising him gruesome and terrible deaths, that she was heading out to the grounds during a full moon.

The Marauders had decided to take their chances and frolic around on the grounds tonight. James had actually come up with the idea- Remus seemed even more sane during his transformation when he was on the familiar, comforting grounds. Suddenly, Sirius sniffed the air with his wet, black nose. His canine eyes grew round with fear. Nudging the stag as if to say, _I smell humans_. James hastily wheeled around to find that Remus was no longer behind them. He had disappeared.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Review, I'll love you for it! Enjoy. **

Chapter 8

Snape realized with a start that he had unwittingly led Starr out to the grounds- during a full moon. He smirked, realizing how easily he could lose her in the darkness of night. As soon as he was sure that they were both out of the castle, he doubled back, smirking as he contemplated her fate in the doorway to the Entrance Hall.

Starr only fully realized where she was when a feral growl echoed from behind her in the darkness. She gulped, glancing up at the full moon. She wordlessly lit the light at the end of her wand and found herself face to face with Remus, transformed. She raised a trembling hand to cast a Shield Charm, but before she could do a thing, he was on her, his claws tearing into her flesh. She felt blood draining from her at an alarming rate and she tried to fight him off, but she was no match for a werewolf. He raised his head, his teeth bared, ready to bore into her, when a giant black dog pounced from seemingly nowhere. It barked angrily at the werewolf as it turned to face its almost-victim. A stag galloped towards the wolf to keep it at bay, for the dog seemed to have grown rigid with shock. The dog transformed back into a human.

Sirius bent over Starr's limp form. "Starr," he whimpered, sounding rather doglike. He picked up her body and broke into a run, headed for the castle, ignoring the stag's angry snorts from behind him.

Somewhere in between Madam Pomfrey hastily beginning to patch Starr up and her trying to make him leave the Hospital Wing did Sirius break down, his own tears salty in his mouth.

James burst through the door to the Hospital Wing, scratched and bruised, demanding, "Who was it?" Sirius had stopped crying long ago; now he was merely numb, as if he was no longer capable of feeling emotion.

He shook his head wordlessly, moving so James could see her. James spotted the still form of his little sister and his blood ran cold. "No… not Starr," he moaned, like some sort of wounded animal. He rushed to her bedside, grabbing her hand and rubbing it. "Is she…?" he asked, his last word strangled in the back of his throat, too scared to even voice his fear.

"No," Sirius told him sullenly. "Not yet, at least."

"What do you mean?" James demanded, paling. He seemed to grip his sister's hand tightened and she let out a small moan. They fell silent, waiting for her to show another sign of life, but she remained as quiet, still, and seemingly lifeless as before. He sucked in a deep breath, repeating, "What do you mean?"

"Madam Pomfrey says there's no way to know for sure if she'll survive… she suspects a werewolf attack, but I don't think she believes in it firmly enough to alert anyone else. James, I…" Sirius tried to say, but his voice cracked on his last word and he was rendered speechless.

"What is it, Padfoot?" he asked softly.

"I didn't say good-bye to her before we left with Moony… what if I never get to tell her that I love her again?" he said, his tears falling freshly yet again.

"She'll pull through, Padfoot," James said, swallowing loudly and trying to convince himself. "She's a strong girl; she'll pull through."

"I know she's strong," Sirius whispered. "Prongs…"

"Don't even, Sirius," James said, cutting his best mate off. "You saved her life."

By morning, Sirius, James, Lily, Remus, and Peter were all gathered around Starr's bed in the Hospital Wing, excused from classes compliments of Albus Dumbledore. Lily had explained what Severus had tried to pull. "The chase must've led her out to the grounds somehow," she said, staring at the Starr's still form.

"Screw him!" James said, his hands clenched into fists. "First he assaults you with his lips, next he gets my little sister attacked by a werewolf. I'll murder him."

"It's my fault," Remus said. "It's all my fault…"

"Remus, snap the bloody hell out of it!" Lily insisted, snapping her finger in his face. "You were _transformed_, Remus. You didn't know what you were doing and you smelled a human. I swear to God, Starr'll slap you if you talk like that when she wakes up."

"How do you know she's going to?" Sirius asked miserably.

Lily patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "I know these things." However, deep down, she was just as worried as everyone else was. She could feel James clinging to her for dear life, and she knew that he needed her support more than ever. Sirius was clinging desperately to the mattress. Remus and Peter had worried looks in the their eyes; none of them had slept a wink all night.

"Sirius?" croaked a voice. Sirius' head snapped up. Starr's hazel eyes had fluttered open and she was smiling weakly at all of them.

"Starr," he said softly, grasping her hand tightly as he sighed in relief.

James released Lily and rushed to his sister's side. "Starr, are you okay?" he gasped, his hazel eyes bulging at her.

"I'm going to be fine, bro," she replied softly, still smiling. "Snivellus must've doubled back once he got outside; I was so busy chasing him that I didn't realize where I was until I heard Remus growl."

"Starr," Remus said, finally speaking up, "this is all my fault, I feel so guilty-"

"Remus," she interrupted, "shut the bloody hell up. Lils… slap him please. I would, but I'm kind of out of it right now."

Lily flashed Remus a grin, slapping his arm. "Told you so," she smirked. She faced Starr again, saying, "Welcome back, Starr."

"Thanks, Lils," she said.

"Oh, and thanks for saving me from Snivellus," Lily said, wrinkling her nose at the unpleasant memory. "I'm going to have nightmares about that for months." Starr laughed, but flashed a longingly glance at Sirius. Lily's mouth formed an 'o' as she said, "Er, come on, James… Remus… Peter… let's give these two some privacy." She dragged the three protesting boys from the Hospital Wing, ignoring their complaints.

"Starr…" Sirius said softly as soon as they were alone, "I was scared to death. Bloody hell, I thought you were going to die."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, lifting her hand to stroke his cheek gently. "Didn't you know I'd pull through?"

"Deep down I did, I guess," he said. "But that didn't stop me from being scared. God, Starr, I dunno what I'd do without you."

"I love you, Sirius," she said softly, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Don't cry," he said, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "I love you too, Starr." He bent his head down and kissed her urgently, remembering how close he had come to losing her. As she moaned into his mouth, he knew that he never wanted to let her go.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Sorry that I haven't posted in forever, but I started high school on Monday, so I'll be busy and won't be posting as often during the school week. Sorry! Read and review please. Enjoy. Just for clarification, Remus DID NOT bite Starr. **

Chapter 9

"Lils?" Starr called cautiously, creeping into the nearly empty Gryffindor common room.

"I'm here, Starr," Lily said, looking bemused. "I wouldn't ditch you, even though I did have to postpone my date with your brother by an hour."

"Sorry," Starr apologized. "Since I don't want to delay your snogging session any longer, I'll get right to it then. I need your help."

"With what?" Lily questioned, cocking a red eyebrow at her friend. Starr looked anxious, combing her fingers through her silky black hair and Lily noted another similarity between the siblings. Both James and Starr played around with their hair when they were nervous.

"I want to become an Animagus," Starr said quickly, as if she were afraid that someone would hear her.

"What?" she gaped. "You can't, you're not even of age, Nova."

"I know, Lils, I know. But the Marauders pulled it off. Look, being as close as I am to them, I need to know that I have something to fall back on if something like that ever happens again," she said, referring to her encounter with Remus nearly a month ago. "You should become one, too."

"I don't know, Starr," Lily sighed. "You know we'd be in a ton of trouble with the law if we were caught."

"If my brother and his friends can do it, so can we," Starr said firmly, jutting out her hip and placing a fisted hand on it. "Whatever they can do we can do better."

Lily's mouth twisted into a smile as she made up her mind. "And we can do it in a skirt," she added. "Let's do this."

Soon Lily had found a book in the Restricted Section of the library (she had kissed up to Professor Slughorn quite smoothly for the permission) and was getting to work on it with a great amount of Starr's help. The two brightest witches in Hogwarts put their heads together and set their mind to the exact same illegal goal: becoming unregistered Animagi. Lily was walked into the Heads' common room rather late on night to find James out cold on the couch. She laughed at his half-open mouth and his loud snored. "James?" she whispered, shaking him gently. He woke with a start and promptly rolled off of the couch, landing on the floor ass first.

"Damn," he muttered, rubbing his buttocks tenderly.

"Why were you asleep on the couch?" Lily asked, helping him sweetly to his feet.

"I was waiting for you," he explained, wrapping strong arms around her waist and drawing her to him. "Have I told you that I love you, Lily?"

"Only about a hundred times since dinner," she giggled, their noses rubbing against each other's. "But it's nice to hear it again and again."

"I love you," he said, pressing his lips to her passionately. Unlike most of their kisses, this one was more passionate, more demanded. His lips moved against her in pent up emotion and passion and love as he pressed her up against the wall. She moaned as she parted her lips, granting him entrance to her mouth. He sighed happily as he explored her mouth, thinking about how long he had dreamed of doing this. Her hands reached under his shirt, feeling his finely tuned muscles. He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers, swollen lipped and breathless.

"I love you too," she panted, her fingers trailing down his cheek slowly.

He moaned, saying, "Lils, do me a favor, would you?"

"Anything, James," she whispered fiercely.

"Remind me to make sure Sirius and Starr get married and that Remus marries some fit, brilliant witch, because that's the only way I'm ever going to repay them for getting us together."

"Good morning, love," Sirius greeted Starr at the Gryffindor table the following morning at breakfast, draping an arm around her shoulders.

"Morning, Padfoot," she replied, her lips brushing against his cheek, feeling the slight stubble on it. He felt his cheek tingle where she had kissed and blushed slightly.

"What did you do last night?" Sirius asked, piling food onto his plate alarmingly fast.

Starr bit her lip, thinking about what she had indeed done the night before. She had been working with Lily, plowing through the book that was sure to help them become illegal Animagi. She didn't want to lie to him, saying, "Well, I, er…"

She was saved by the arrival of the owls, carrying the daily post. A jet black owl landed in front of her just as James took the seat across from her. "Hey there, Thunder," James said, allowing the owl to nibble on his finger affectionately.

Starr untied the letter from Thunder's leg and tore it open unceremoniously, her hazel eyes growing wide and filling with tears as she read it. "James," she whispered, softly, handed him the letter. A few tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

"What's wrong, Nova?" Sirius asked, looking at her in extreme concern. It was quite unusual for Starr to cry; it happened about once in a blue moon.

James read the letter, his face now matching Starr's. Without saying a word, the siblings glanced at each other before fleeing the Great Hall, turning left as they departed, ignoring, Lily's, Sirius', Remus', and Peter's calls for them to come back.

Sirius and Lily burst into Dumbledore's office to find James and Starr sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk. "I knew you'd be here," Lils said calmly. She sat next to James, wrapping her arms around him. Sirius sat next to Starr and she leaned against him heavily, her hot tears wetting his shirt.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, pressing a soft kiss to her black hair.

"I am sorry to inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Potter have been murdered," Dumbledore said, looking extremely grave behind his half moon spectacles.

"What?" Lily gaped. Sirius' eyes began to fill with tears as well; the Potters had been better parents to him than his actual parents had.

"Their bodies were found in their bedroom and the Dark Mark had been set over their house," Dumbledore added. Lily felt James' whole body tense up and Starr looked up at Dumbledore, a fierce look in her eyes.

"I'll kill them," she whispered fiercely, her hazel eyes flashing.

"Now, Ms. Potter, let's not move too hastily," Dumbledore said.

"She's right," James said angrily. "They deserve what I'll give them."

"Do you really believe your parents would've wanted you to become murderers just for them?" Dumbledore asked. An uneasy silence fell upon the four of them.

Finally, Starr shook her head, replying, "No."

Dumbledore looked pleased with their decision. "Excellent. Then our first order of business is the funeral."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for all the reviews and please keep it up. And I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in forever! Please don't hurt me! Enjoy. **

Chapter 11

"What are you doing, Starr?" James asked upon finding his younger sister sitting on the couch in their living room. Or rather, what used to be their living room. She sighed heavily as he sat next to her. She had a photograph held in her slender hands, but he couldn't see what was in it.

"Are there any Aurors within hearing distance?" she asked softly, tucking a lock of her black hair behind her right ear.

"No," he replied quietly. "The closest one is in the kitchen." They weren't allowed to enter the house without at least three Aurors, just in case the Death Eaters decided to come back to finish the job. James and Starr were holding up immensely well under the pressure and grief; they knew their parents would not have wanted them to fall apart.

"I found this in my room," she said, handing the photo to him, refusing to look him in the eye. What he had thought was a single photo was actually four photos. The first was of him, only a few months old. He had a few locks of jet black hair and stunning hazel eyes. He was a cute, bubbly baby boy whom everyone loved. People had been falling all over him from the very beginning; everyone had been wrapped around his chubby little finger. Biting his lip to keep from crying, he put the picture gingerly to the side and looked at the next one.

He chuckled, saying, "You were adorable. Like brother, like sister, eh?" She smiled slightly, looking down at the photograph as well. This one was of her when she was only a few months old. She looked almost exactly like James had; there were no physical differences between the photos, except Starr seemed to be winking at the camera, gurgling happily. She had been just like James as a baby, just a bit more fiery and stubborn.

"I was chubby too. Something else we shared," she added softly. He smiled at her, placing her baby picture on top of his. The next one was of the two of them. He was four and she was three. They had their arms around each other, grinning toothily at the camera. Their matching bright hazel eyes shone with laughter and their jet black hair was rumpled, presumably from horsing around. Even then, Starr looked remarkably like a female James, tall and gangly. Grinning even wider, he paced this picture to the side as well.

His face fell as he gazed upon the fourth and final picture. In it, he and Starr were with their parents at the local park. "We were so happy," he sighed, looking at his parents, fingering their figures longingly.

"I miss them, James," she whispered softly, forcing back tears fiercely.

"Me too, Starr," he said, draping an arm around her. She hugged her brother tightly. "At least we have each other, right, sis?"

"Right," she mumbled into his neck. She pulled away, sighing. "Let's go before Sirius and Lily think we jumped off of a cliff."

Sirius threw himself at Starr the moment she and James walked through the door, his arms wrapping around her waist tightly. His sudden weight was too much for her to carry and she fell back onto the carpet of the hotel room. She heard the door click as James and Lily left to give them some privacy. He pressed his lips to her hair. "Padfoot, I was only gone for a couple hours," she whispered as he trailed kisses down her neck.

"It felt like a couple lifetimes to me," he replied in between them, nibbling a bit on her skin. She inhaled a deep breath.

"Can we do this later?" she asked. "I don't feel that good."

His face fell for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. "Sure, sure," he said, getting up off of her and standing up. He helped her to his feet gallantly.

"Sorry," she grimaced. "I'm just kind of… gloomy right now."

"It's fine, Nova," he said, reaching out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear lovingly. "I understand." She flashed him a small smile, granting him a brief, tender kiss for his sympathy. She left the room, heading for the room she shared with Lily. He sighed as soon as she was gone, running a hand through his long hair.

Sirius was lying in bed, unable to sleep, his warm brown eyes staring up blankly at the ceiling. He could hear James snoring from the next bed over and vaguely wondered whether he'd ever doze off. Suddenly, he heard a click as the door opened and a pair of feet shuffling across the carpet. He sat up abruptly. "Sirius?" a soft voice called.

He'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Hold on," he said, searching for his wand on the nightstand. He found it, muttering, "_Lumos_." A light lit up at the end of his wand, revealing Starr. She looked sleepy and tired, her black hair disheveled. She was wearing a white nightgown, which was bordering on being see-through, stopping a full four inches above her knee. There was a pleading look to her hazel eyes that he had never seen before, not in all the time he had known her, which was seven years. "What's wrong, Nova?"

"I can't sleep," she pleaded, sitting down at the foot of his bed. "I was sort of wondering…" At this point, her voice trailed off uncertainly as she looked interestedly at her bare feet.

"You were wondering what?" he urged on, reaching out and taking her hand in his.

"I was wondering… if I could sleep with you," she said softly. She saw the startled look on his face, she hastily added, "Not like that, Sirius. Just… sleep next to you."

"Oh," he said, feeling relieved and disappointed at the same time. "Of course." He scooted over to the side to make room for her as she crawled into bed next to him, snuggling against his warm form. His arms wrapped around her instinctively as she inhaled deeply. "What's bothering you, Starr?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"Something is bothering you," he insisted. "And I ask because I care, and because I know you better than you think. The only times you can't sleep are when you've had too much sugar or when something is bothering you."

She laughed hollowly. "My parents," she mumbled in reply, almost inaudibly.

"It's only right for you to miss them, Starr," he told her, pressing a soft kiss into her hair.

"I know that," she said, sounding a bit impatient "I'm just… scared."

"Of what, Starr?" he asked, concerned. "Death Eaters? I'll never let them touch you, baby. You're my life."

She smiled up at him briefly before becoming serious again (no pun intended). "No, not of that," she told him. "I'm afraid… of not having enough time with those I love… of losing them… first my parents… who's next? James? Remus? Lily? God, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Sirius."

"I'm never going to leave you, my lovely star," he promised her, his lips brushing against her cheek.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise," he said firmly.

"Then I promise too," she replied firmly. She looked up at him, a mischievous twinkled in her hazel eyes. "How about that kiss?" Before he could reply, her lips were on his, full of passion. He moaned as he felt her hot tongue sweep against his mouth, seeking entrance. He granted it, her taste clouding his senses as his fingers became entangled in her black hair. She groaned and pulled away, panting for breath. "I love you," she told him firmly. This took him slightly by surprise, but only slightly; he had always been the one to initiate the "I love you" sequence so far, though she had always said it back firmly.

"I love you too," he told her, relieved. His arms tightened around her as he pulled her into his chest. "Now go to sleep. Have sweet dreams."

Her hazel eyes closed obediently, her face pressed into his chest, as she murmured, "They'll only be sweet if they're of you."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Keep reviewing!! Enjoy. **

Chapter 11

Two weeks later found Lily Evans in the library, her nose buried deep in the book that was sure to help her and Starr become illegal Animagi. They were nearly ready- they had set the date for exactly two weeks from now. Suddenly, a pair of strong, calloused hands covered her eyes. "Guess who."

She hastily shut the book with a snapping noise. Her mouth twisted into a grin as she replied, "James." He sighed, removing his hands from over her eyes.

"How do you always know?" he asked, his hand cupping her face. His hazel eyes probed her green ones as he reached out with his other hand to tuck a lock of her fiery red hair behind her ear.

"I'd recognize your voice anywhere," she said simply. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers in a seductive kiss. She moaned softly. Sighing, she pulled away reluctantly, saying, "James, we're in the library."

"So?" he pouted, raising a single black eyebrow at her.

"Don't you think we should move?" she asked, her words ending on a breathy groan as he trailed kisses down her neck. Her back arched towards him involuntarily, closing the physical gap between them. He chuckled.

"I've been quite a bad influence on you, haven't I, Miss Evans?" he chortled. "Kissing me in front of the Great Hall as you did. Cursing in front of the professors, oh my." She rolled her green eyes at him as he smirked. "Now, almost snogging in the library…"

"Correction," she said, a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes, "snogging in the library." Before he could even comprehend the meaning of her words, her lips were on his, filled with passion and longing. Her fingers entangled themselves in his messy black hair as his warm hand reached just under her shirt, his fingers splaying against her abdomen. She sucked in a gasp of pleasure as he gently drew her bottom lip into his mouth. Her taste clouded his senses and he moaned throatily into her mouth. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and gently pulled her onto his lap. She was surprised at first, but regained her composure and straddled him. He broke off, placing a kiss in the crook of her neck. "James."

"Hmmm?" he replied, nibbling a bit on the skin of her neck.

"I love you," she said softly.

He turned his clear hazel eyes towards her, a smile playing on his lips. "I love you too, Lily."

Suddenly, Madam Herst, the librarian, bustled over, screeching, "THIS IS A LIBRARY, NOT A STRIP CLUB! OUT, OUT, OUT!" She bewitched various paper documents to throw themselves at them as they left the library, running and laughing hysterically.

The laughing couple collapsed inside the Heads' common room, Lily landing on top of James. "I told you," she said in between giggles, "that we should move."

"True," he admitted, gasping for breath, "but then you started snogging me. You've become quite a vixen, Lily-flower."

She giggled, knowing he was teasing her lovingly. She bent her head down, placing a searing kiss on his lips before standing up and brushing herself off. "Good night, James," she said, her green eyes twinkling at him as she headed towards her dorm. He remained on the floor, staring after her retreating figure longingly.

He thought of her kiss, touching his lips with his fingers tenderly. "Damn," he muttered, grinning to himself deliriously.

"Starr! Starr!" Lily called excitedly, sprinting into the Gryffindor sixth year girls' dorm. The room was empty except for Starr, who looked up just in time to see her friend crash into the bed next to hers.

"Watch yourself, Lils," she chuckled, helping Lily to her feet. "You're going to give yourself a concussion if you don't."

"Right," Lily said, looking a bit dazed. Her green eyes focused once more as she said happily, "I've got it!"

"You have?" Starr asked, her hazel eyes widening at her. "Are you sure nothing will go wrong? James, Sirius, and Remus will murder us if we screw ourselves up."

"I'm sure," Lily nodded. "Do you want to do it tonight, or do you want to wait until tomorrow night, like we'd planned?"

Starr sucked in a deep breath, considering their options. "Sooner's better than later," she said finally. "Let's do this thing."

"Just think," Lily gushed. "By tomorrow morning, we'll be illegal Animagi."

"You're not the goody-goody you were before," she said, raising her eyebrows at her.

Lily shrugged. "You and your brother are bad influences."

Starr giggled. "Besides, rule-breaking is fun isn't it?"

"Most definitely," Lily agreed wholeheartedly. "I get such a rush… I never knew it could be so… so thrilling!"

Starr eyed her warily. "Did my brother drop you on your head?"

"How are we going to tell them?" Starr whispered to Lily anxiously. "Tonight is a full moon, Lils."

"Then we follow them out," Lily told her firmly. "I don't care what they say; you're right. We're too involved with them to be safe without something to fall back on in case we ever run into Remus when he's transformed."

"Right," Starr said, sucking in a deep breath. "Simple as that." She scooped up a spoon of porridge and tilted her spoon, watching as the spoonful slid back into her bowl.

"You need to eat, Nova," Lily sighed, watching her friend play with her food rather than eat it.

"Not hungry," she moped.

"Why not?" she asked, cocking a red eyebrow at her.

"I dunno… ever since I started dating Sirius, I haven't had much of an appetite unless I haven't eaten in a very long time," Starr explained, taking a swig from her glass of pumpkin juice.

"Oh," Lily said, her green eyes widening. "That happens to some girls. When they really, really like a guy, they lose their appetite. They're… euphoric."

Starr smiled broadly at her. "The thing is Lils… I don't really, really like him. I'm in love with him."

The full moon cast playful shadows on the grass as the four friends pranced around the Shrieking Shack. They had been careful not to take a risk since Starr's attack and were staying well out of the way of humans. Sirius suddenly stuck his wet, black nose into the air sniffing deeply. The stag cocked its head at him curiously. Suddenly, Sirius spotted a snow white wolf on the crest of the hill. It threw back its head and emitted a bone-chilling howl.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay, I know I haven't posted in forever… I'm so sorry, but school keeps me as busy as… as busy as… as busy as Sirius trying to figure out how an iPod works. Don't own, don't sue. Read and review, thanks! Cheers. **

Chapter 12

Sirius slowly approached the wolf, the fur on his back rising in painful awareness. Would she attack? He had the feeling it was a she. The snow-white wolf eyed him with twinkling yellow eyes. Wait. Twinkling? Wolves' eyes did _not_ twinkle. That could only mean…

"I can _not_ believe it," James muttered. He and Sirius were pacing back and forth in the now empty Gryffindor common room, Lily and Starr standing before them. "You two went and made yourselves illegal Animagi?"

"Er, I believe the correct term is," Starr said, eyeing her brother confidently, "yes."

"Why?" Sirius said, seemingly using a lot of effort to spit out that one word.

"Because," Starr told him, "Lily and I are too involved with you and the other Marauders to be safe without something to fall back on. If we had done this earlier, maybe I would've been safe that night Snivellus attacked Lils."

James heaved a great sigh. "Sirius, Starr- could you two please give us some privacy?"

"Sure thing, bro," she said gratefully, grabbing Sirius' hand and pulling him out of the room. "You two have fun."

"I can _not_ believe it," he repeated, his hazel eyes locking onto her green ones.

"Are you… mad?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"No," James replied, shaking his head, "I'm… astonished. I thought you knew better than to break the rules, Miss Head Girl." A teasing grin played on his lips. She smiled back at him, feeing relieved.

"I always knew you and your sister would be bad influences on me, Potter," she grinned.

"Admit it," he told her, "you love it."

"Er, no," she said. "I don't love it. I love you." She grinned as she pressed his lips to his, grateful that he was so understanding. She wondered how Sirius and Starr were getting on…

"Are you… angry?" Starr asked, sitting next to Sirius on his bed. She had dragged him up to his dormitory, which she knew would be empty, since James was with Lily, Remus was in the hospital wing recovering from that night's adventures, and Peter was nicking food from the kitchen. He shook his head numbly. "Then what?"

"I'm just… speechless," he muttered in reply.

"No kidding."

"I'm just… worried. I'm not so sure I like the idea of you putting yourself in danger like that."

She sighed loudly. "Padfoot, I was in more danger before. This way if something ever happens again, I can just transform and boom- instant immunity to werewolf bites."

He moaned. "You could've screwed yourselves up. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I was attacked by a werewolf a few months ago," she huffed, "and that I would've been fine if I was an Animagus. I was thinking that I'm the sister of a Maruader _and_ the girlfriend of a Marauder and I can do whatever I want, whenever I want."

"You're only a sixth year, Starr!" he protested.

She jumped from the bed, angry fire igniting in her hazel eyes. "Yet I can still whoop your arse in a dueling match!"

"That's not the point!" he roared, jumping up to face her. They stood like that for a few moments, standing off angrily. "Don't transform."

"And why not?" she hissed.

"Because I said so!" He knew he had screwed himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Her mouth twisted into a thin line and her eyes hardened as her expression became cold and distanced.

"Well I say this relationship is over," she spat, turning on her heel and walking towards the door.

He stared after her coldly, before his mouth turned into a frown. "Starr!" he called. She didn't come back.

As she made her way back to her dorm, Starr felt her bottom lip quivering and bit back her tears furiously. She pushed the heels of the palms hard against her eyes until she saw sparks in the blackness, determined not to cry. She reached the dorm and collapsed onto her bed, a few salty tears leaking out from the protection of her eyelids. Her sobs continued through the night, invariably violent and depressing, even as her roommates tried desperately to comfort her. What had she done?

Sirius explained what had happened to James the next morning at breakfast. It was a Saturday morning, so they were able to take their time as he related his story to him. "I'm sorry, mate," Sirius said, "it was a mistake."

James eyed him warily for a second before his expression softened. "I believe you, Padfoot."

"Thanks, Prongs," Sirius breathed, relieved. "So you're not going to hex me into oblivion?"

"Not today, I'm not," James grinned. "I'm pretty damn sure my sister feels the same way. Why don't you go talk to her?"

"You might not want to do that," Remus said softly. He had remained unusually quiet until then, tired from the previous night.

"Why not?" Sirius asked, furrowing his brows.

"Because she's over there with Lily crying into her oatmeal," he pointed out. Sirius followed his gaze and found himself watching Starr sob into her pumpkin juice. Whenever anyone tried to talk to her, she merely cried harder.

"Oh my God," he said. "What did I do?"

"Mate," James said gravely, "you better do something about this- and fast. Or I will have to hex you."

Lily chose that moment to briefly visit the Marauders. She turned grimly to Sirius. "You need to do something," she told him firmly.

"So I've been told," he murmured, frowning.

"Starr hasn't stopped crying since last night. I think losing you so soon after losing her parents really did her in, Sirius," Lily told him.

"As if I don't feel shitty enough already," he murmured. "Oh, God, Silly Lily- how do I get her back?"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Two posts in the same weekend! I am on a roll! Don't own, don't sue. Read and review please. Enjoy! **

Chapter 13

Sirius found her by the large tree near the Black Lake. She was still crying; her eyes were so red that he feared she'd pop a blood vessel in her eye from crying so hard. He hesitated five feet from the spot at which she sat, sucking in a deep breath. "Nova?" he called softly.

She whipped her head around to face him, her face red and blotchy. She glared at him. "Go away."

He ignored her response and sat down next to her. "We're worried about you, Starr," he told her quietly. "I'm worried about you. I miss you."

"What's it to you?" she sniffed, refusing to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry, Starr," he apologized softly. "I never meant to say the things I did and I know it was stupid. I was just worried about you getting hurt; I've been so afraid ever since Remus attacked you." She didn't respond, merely stared blankly out at the lake. "I'm sorry, Nova. I love you." He stood up to leave, feeling as though his heart was tearing in two. So people had been right; he had tried not to hurt her, but yet here she was, crying her eyes blood red because of him.

"Sirius," she called softly. He turned to face her the instant he hard her call his name. She stood hastily and ran to him, throwing her arms around him and sobbing even harder.

"Don't cry, Starr, please," he begged, his voice cracking.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," she sobbed. "I overreacted and I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Nova," he replied softly, kissing her hair. He led her back over to the tree and sat down. She still leaned against him heavily, her tears slowing down. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as he rubbed her back comfortingly, whispering sweet nothings into her ear lovingly. When her tears had finally run out, she raised her head to look at him, flashing him a watery smile. "All better?"

She nodded. "Thanks to you."

"I love you, Starr," he murmured softly, reaching out to tuck a lock of her black hair behind her ear. She reached her hand towards his face, her fingers lightly trailing down his cheek, feeling the roughness of his slight stubble. "You have no idea how shitty I felt after you broke up with me."

"I think I have some idea," she whispered as she grimaced.

"Right," he murmured, finding it hard to focus while her face was mere inches away… "I'm sorry."

"No, I am," she insisted, her fingers now running through strands of his dark hair.

"I am," he persisted as he looped his arms around her waist. Her breath washed over his face like a perfume and he felt his senses heighten.

"I'm more sorry than you are," she teased, the corners of her mouth curving upward into a smile.

"Prove it," he smirked. A mischievous look crossed her face as she pressed her lips to his softly. When he tried to open his mouth to her, she pulled away slightly before resuming soft, closed-mouth kisses. She repeated this sequence over and over again until he finally gasped, "Bloody hell, Starr. You're going to be the death of me."

"Whatever are you talking about, love?" she smirked, her lips brushing against his only briefly.

"You know what you're doing," he accused. "Enough of that."

"If you say so," she shrugged, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his once more. This time the kiss was much different, much more passionate and demanding. She opened her mouth to him almost immediately, her tongue pushing past his lips. He moaned into her mouth low and deep, his hands firm on her waist. "Promise me something."

"What?" he moaned, trailing kisses down her neck. She arched her back in response, closing the physical gap between them. "Anything for you."

"That we'll talk it out next time we fight," she gasped breathily as he picked her up, spun her around and pressed her against the trunk of the tree. He slid his thigh between hers so that she was straddling his leg. "That we won't break up without talking about it thoroughly first."

"Hmmm," he agreed, sucking at a pulse point on her neck. "I promise."

"Sirius," she hisses and he immediately reattaches his lips to hers, bruising her lips with the intensity of his kisses. Her fingers rake through his hair as her nails scratched lightly against his scalp. He lets out a primal moan into her mouth as he pulls her to him, crushing her body against his warm form. His hand pressed into her waist as she felt every ridge of his body pressed into her. "I love you." She pulled away, breathless and swollen lipped, her hazel eyes closed contentedly.

"I love you, too," he panted. Her arms locked around his neck as her legs wrapped around his waist, leeching herself onto him in an intimate embrace. He chuckled, the deepness of his laugh vibrating both their bodies. "Starr."

"Hmmm?" she replied, nibbling a bit on his earlobe. He let out another low moan.

"You're going to have to let go of me eventually," he told her, his lips brushing against the smoothness of her cheek.

Her lips curved into a smile against his cheek, her teeth brushing against his skin. "Not if I have anything to do with it."

Sirius and Starr walked back to the Gryffindor common room hand in hand. He squeezed her hand in his tightly and pulled on it gently, her body colliding with his. "Sirius," she giggled. "What are you doing?"

"I want everyone to know you're mine," he replied simply as she gave the Fat Lady the password and they stepped through the portrait hole. "And that nothing's breaking us up."

Whispers predictably erupted as people caught sight of them. "I thought they broke up?" "They're back together? _Again?_" "Starr's lost it!"

"You two are back together?" Lily asked eagerly, approaching them.

"Yeah," Starr smiled. "We both overreacted last night."

"Excellent," James grinned. He thumped Sirius on the back before crushing Starr to him in a brotherly hug. "I'm happy for the both of you."

"I'm glad you two worked this out," Remus remarked. "I was worried."

"We all were," Peter added eagerly, not be left out of the celebration.

"We've worked it all out," Sirius told them. "And next time we fight, we've promised to talk it out instead of just ending it like we did."

"Good for you," Lily praised. "Oh, and I'd just like to point out that it took us a total of a month and half to figure out how to become illegal Animagi whereas it took you four… what? Three years?"

"Rub it in, why don't you?" James groaned. Lily had been doing so all day.

"We were twelve when we first started trying," Sirius yelped in protest. "Besides, we didn't have the help of two lovely, brilliant witches like yourselves."

Starr rolled her eyes. "Arse-kissing that obvious will get you nowhere in life, Sirius."

"Well, I've been doing it all my life and I'm dating the most perfect girl imaginable," he grinned down at her. "Nowhere seems pretty damn good so far."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm posting again! Yay! Don't own, don't sue. Read and review. Ha! That rhymes! Enjoy! **

Chapter 14

"Will this never end?" Starr furiously slammed the newspaper down onto the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, her long nails poking holes in the pages.

"Easy, love," Sirius said, looking at her in concern.

"Death Eaters everywhere… Muggles and wizards and witches dying everyday… Voldemort keeps gaining power…" she said, buttering her toast viciously. Peter squeaked. "What's got your knickers in a twist, Wormtail?"

"You said… you said his name!" he whimpered, looking fearful.

Starr stared at him, nonplussed. "And?" she asked. "Like Dumbledore says, 'Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself'."

"Nova's right," James added, spooning oatmeal into his mouth.

"You know," Lily said, "this time next year, we'll be able to start training as Aurors. Won't that be wonderful?"

Starr nearly choked on her pumpkin juice. "You all right, love?" Sirius asked, rubbing her back gently and looking at her in confusion.

"Fine, fine," she said. "But can we please not talk about next year?"

"Why not?" Remus asked, joining the conversation, interested.

"We'll have graduated this time next year," Lily said.

"Stop it!" Starr yelped shrilly. "Just… just stop it!"

"What the bloody hell is wrong?" Sirius demanded, his hands resting on her petite shoulders.

Starr eyed all of them in turn with her hazel eyes, which were now worried: James, Lily, Remus, Peter, and lastly, Sirius. "Have you all forgotten that I'm a year behind you?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Sirius' expression went from one of concern to one of utter misery. "Oh… right," he said glumly. "You belong with us so much, Starr. I totally forgot you're only a sixth year."

"Stop!" she hissed. She covered her hands with her ears, saying, "Stop, stop, stop!"

"So… you're worried about us leaving you and being alone next year?" James asked, cocking his head at his younger sister inquisitively.

She nodded, grimacing. "Don't worry about it," Remus said, trying to reassure her. However, the broken looks on all of their faces didn't help whatsoever. They wouldn't be quite the same without Starr- and they all knew it.

Starr met Sirius at their usual spot against the large tree by the lake. "You wanted to meet me here?" Starr asked brightly, having recovered from her minor meltdown at breakfast.

"Yeah," he said bleakly. "I did."

"Padfoot?" she said, looking at him worriedly. She allowed him to take her hands in his, as she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I forgot that next year we won't be together," he whispered, his grip on her hands increasing.

"Please don't bring this up again," she pleaded, burying her face in the crook of his neck. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, crushing her to him.

"I'm sorry, Nova," he said softly. "But it's going to be miserable next year, being away from you. I suppose we could meet in Hogsmeade."

"Every six weeks," she pointed out grimly. Trying to lighten the mood, she added, "You'll have to spend the summer at my house again."

"I don't know if I can, Starr," he whispered, bending his head down to kiss the base of her neck. She shuddered and gasped. "I might not be able to resist the rather, er, substantial temptations that await me there."

She chuckled. "Pervert," she hissed as he took her earlobe gently between his teeth, nibbling gently. She gasped again, her hands clutching at the back of his neck.

"Tell me you don't like it," he breathed in her ear, his lips brushing against her smooth cheek.

"I don't," she said. "I love it." She took his face firmly in her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "We'll survive. Somehow."

He still looked uncertain, but chuckled, "We always do, don't we?" He pressed his lips to hers softly, his hand resting in the small of her back. As her arms settled around his neck, he got lost in this moment, in this year, and he stopped thinking about the future.

"Ruddy hell!" James exclaimed, stalking into the Gryffindor common room in angry frustration.

Starr sighed loudly, being the only one in the common room at the moment. "All right," she said, shutting her History of Magic book with a snap. "What is it, James?"

"The whole damn Heads thing!" he said, pulling at strands of his black hair.

"Stop," she commanded him, pulling his hands away from his head. "What exactly is the problem with your Head's duties?"

"Lily and I have no time to spend together! We're too busy with damn Heads' duties and schoolwork and studying for our freaking N.E.W.T.s! I almost never get to just sit and talk with her anymore," he explaining, breathing in deeply to regain his patience.

"All right," Starr mused aloud. "Why don't you go talk to McGonagall? She can work anything out." Her hazel eyes suddenly lit up and James recognized the look on her face- she had just come up with a bloody brilliant idea. "That's it!" She barely had time to bid him good-bye before she was out of the portrait hole, sprinting in her enthusiasm.

He chuckled, feeling much more relaxed and amused, "I love that girl."

Sirius chose that moment to come stumbling into the common room, his dark eyes frantically searching the room. "Where's Starr?" he demanded.

James raised a single black eyebrow at him and decided he didn't want to know. "She just left. She had some bloody brilliant idea though. I could practically see the light bulb go off above her head."

Sirius groaned. "I wanted to talk to her," he whined.

"Talk or snog?" James queried, a teasing grin playing on his lips.

"Talk," he replied. "We snogged yesterday out by the lake."

"Just wait here for her," he told him. "I'm going to go find Lily."

"Who's going to snog now?" Sirius retorted. He collapsed onto the squishiest armchair in the circular common room as James exited through the portrait hole. "Hope she's not gone long," he muttered to himself. He picked himself up off the couch and made his way up to Starr's dorm. He immediately picked out which bed was hers- the nightstand next to it was covered in pictures of Starr, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. In her rush to get dressed that morning, she had merely thrown her pajamas (a light blue nightgown that was so thin he _knew_ it could not be good for her health) onto her bed. He had no clue as to why, but he felt the sudden urge to sniff her clothes. He supposed it had something to do with being a dog, but that still did not explain _why_ he wanted to sniff her clothes. Ignoring his brain, he picked up her nightgown and sniffed it deeply, breathing in the scent of her. She smelled lightly of sweet flowers, but not all artificial like some sort of fake-smelling shampoo. He found that he was unable to tear himself from the nightgown as he threw himself onto her bed. He found that the whole four-canopy bed as well as all her belongings smelled like her; he wanted to stay there forever.

As he lay on her bed, breathing in the scent of her pillows, he found his eyes closing as he drifted into a light sleep…


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for the reviews and please keep it up! Yes, I know I changed the summary a bit and changed the main characters from James and Lily to Sirius and OC because, as most people pointed out, this story was more about Sirius and Starr than James and Lily anyway. Enjoy. **

Chapter 15

"Sirius?"

"Wha?! Don't eat me!" Sirius screamed, sitting up abruptly in Starr's bed as he woke. His dark eyes flew wide open as he took in his surroundings. He found Starr standing at the foot of her bed, her arms crossed, a bemused smile playing on her lips and her hazel eyes blazing in amusement.

"Sirius," Starr said slowly, trying hard not to burst out laughing, "why are you in my bed?" Her eyes landed on her nightgown, which he was still clutching desperately to his chest. "And why are you holding my nightgown?"

"Well, see," he said, stammering as he wondered how to explain this to her, "I came to talk to you, but James said you were gone. So I came up here to wait for you and I started sniffing your stuff and then I fell asleep."

She chuckled, sitting on the foot of her bed. "You have got to be the weirdest bloke I've ever met," she told him, "except for maybe my brother."

"Come on," he scoffed. "You know you love me."

"That I do," she agreed. He gently hauled her onto his lap, pulling her back against him. "Do you know how much shit we'll be in if someone finds us here?"

He snorted. "Lily and James are the Heads. They _owe_ us. Big time. We have immunity."

"True," she nodded. He pecked her cheek, his lips brushing against her skin. "Are you still worried about next year?"

"A bit," he replied, nodding his head. He rested his chin on her shoulder, his cheek rubbing against hers. "Why?"

"Don't," she told him. "Don't worry about it. It's all going to work out."

He looked at her sideways, doubtful. "How do you know?"

She shrugged. "I'm a girl; we know these things," she told him. "It's all going to work out."

"Right," he said uncertainly.

"I'm serious," she said.

She noticed a familiar mischievous glint in his eyes. "No, you're not," he said.

"And how do you know?" she asked him, grinning.

"Because I am," he said, pointing a finger at himself.

"Well, you," she said, jabbing a finger into his chest, "are just really bad at puns."

"Blame my parents," he told her, shrugging. "They must've been _seriously_ drunk when they named me."

"There you go again," she laughed. "What am I ever going to do with you?"

"You can do whatever you want to me," he whispered in her ear. She inhaled sharply.

"James would burst a capillary if he heard you saying that," she whispered back.

"Can we please not talk about Prongs right now?" he pleaded. "It really kills a mood."

"Sure," she agreed. "And I'll be sure to mention to my brother than you called him a mood killer." She turned to face him, straddling him now. Her legs wrapped about his waist and her arms looped around his neck. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Sirius whispered in reply, his voice deep and husky. "But you're seriously tempting me here."

She raised a single black eyebrow at him. "Do you think it's an accident?"

He made a sort of strangled noise in the back of his throat- he couldn't wait any longer; he crushed his lips to hers, his tongue gently flicking across the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth to him, arching her back and tilting her head backwards to allow better access to her mouth. She pushed him back onto the mattress, her body lying on top of his warm form. One of his hands entangled itself in strands of her jet black hair as his other rubbed up and down her back. He peeled his lips from hers, trailing kisses down the column of her neck. She inhaled sharply, his name escaping her lips as a moan. "Sirius."

"Starr," he moaned back in between kisses. He sucked at a pulse point on her neck, causing her to inhale a shuddering, raspy gasp of pleasure. He gently rolled over on top of her, supporting himself so she wouldn't have to support him. He gathered all his courage that he had and fumbled with the top button of her blouse.

She pulled away, breathing heavily, a determined look in her eyes. "No," she told him firmly, sitting up from under him.

"I don't mean to sound… bitter," he said, "but why?"

"I- I'm not ready yet, Sirius," she told him. He took one look into her hazel eyes and knew that she spoke the truth- she wasn't ready yet. "I'm not ready to get to that level in our physical relationship."

"All right then," he said agreeably, gathering her into his arms and hugging her tightly to his warm, sculpted chest. "We'll wait."

"Really?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"What? You expected me to force you to do something you don't want to? Never, Nova. I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "And it's not that I expected you to force me to. I just thought…"

"That it'd be harder for me to resist?" he supplied. She nodded. "It is really hard for me to resist. But for you, Starr? I'd do anything."

She leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder. "Wonderful."

"Have you seen Starr anywhere?" Lily asked Sirius, sitting next to him in the Gryffindor common room. "I haven't been able to just sit and talk with her for a while now."

"No," he said mournfully, shaking his head. "I haven't seen her since dinner." He stared out blankly at the window, watching the rain pour out on the grounds. "I wonder where she is, what she's up to…"

"You really love her, don't you?" Lily inquired, looking at him carefully with her emerald green eyes.

"Yeah," he sighed. "More than you can know, Silly Lily. I know I love her as sure as I know that James loves you."

"She's probably just in the library doing homework or something," she said, a smile playing on her lips. "She'd be too distracted with you in here and she knows it."

He laughed hollowly. "Next year's going to be hell for me."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for the reviews and please keep it up! Enjoy. **

Chapter 16

"Where's Starr?" James asked, coming in to the Gryffindor common room. It had been months and months since Starr's break down over her being a year behind and the holidays (Christmas and Easter) had passed without a hitch. It was May and the graduation festivities for the seventh years were soon approaching. "I wanted to make sure she has something to do tomorrow while we're doing the seventh year swim tomorrow."

Sirius shrugged, staring blankly at the fire blazing in the fireplace. "I dunno," he said, sounding bored. "You can never find her nowadays, can you?"

"Yeah," James sighed, joining his best mate on the couch. "Ever since she had that revelation I haven't been able to find her between the end of dinner and nine o'clock." He saw the forlorn look on Sirius's face and said, "Cheer up, Padfoot. I'm sure she's just studying her guts out in the library."

"But she's a bloody sixth year!" Sirius seethed. "She doesn't have O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s; what the bloody hell could she be studying for three hours every ruddy day? Even on the friggin' weekends, James, she's in there or… wherever she really is."

"Pads, you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking," James said, his voice grave now. "You can't be thinking that she's… that she's cheating on you."

"Bloody hell, Prongs, that's the last thing I want to think. But she's gone for three hours a day and she refuses to tell me why," he said, his breathing come in quick, shallow gasps now.

"No," James said firmly. "Just… no. First off, Starr would never cheat on you, Padfoot. Secondly, she loves you too much. Third, no bloke in the school would have an affair with her because they're too damn afraid of the pair of us. Fourth, she would never cheat on you, Sirius."

Sirius cheered considerably as he pointed out, "Your first and fourth reasons were the same."

"That's because it's _extremely_ true," James replied. "She's not cheating on you, I'm sure of that. She's just working on a super, super, super, super, super-secret project."

As if on cue, Starr burst through the portrait hole, the Invisibility Cloak slipping off her shoulders. "Bloody hell, Peeves is annoying," she panted, collapsing onto the floor, not even trying to make it to the couch.

"There you are!" James exclaimed. He hurried over and helped his sister to her feet, saying, "I was looking for you."

"Why?" she asked, sitting on the couch next to Sirius now. He pulled her onto his lap, feeling her warm form press up against his body.

"I wanted to make sure you had something to do tomorrow while we're down by the lake for the seventh year swim," James said, sounding hesitant, as if scared to set off another breakdown.

"Actually, I was thinking," Starr said.

"Sweet Merlin," Sirius breathed. "I feel bad for this school."

She cast him a withering look before saying, "This is the Marauders' last month as Hogwarts students. Isn't it about time for one last prank?"

"Well, yeah," James admitted. "But we haven't quite been able to come up with anything."

"Lucky for you, I have," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "I'm an honorary Marauder, correct?"

"Yes," Sirius agreed slowly. "And?"

"I bet I can crash every single seventh years only event starting tomorrow and running to the end of the year and participate in them without the Invisibility Cloak or the use of my wand," she said, a determined glint in her eyes.

Sirius let loose a bark-like laugh. "That's impossible, Nova. Security is so damn tight for these things because so many sixth years want to do just that. You'll never make it."

"So you're willing to bet on in then?" she said, her hazel eyes twinkling.

"Why the ruddy hell not?" he said.

"All right, the winner gives the loser a dare, which the loser has to complete, lest the loser wishes to moon McGonagall at the graduation reception," Starr offered, a grin playing on her lips.

"Fair enough," Sirius replied, shaking her proffered hand on their bet.

"What about you, bro? Willing to bet?"

"No," James said, waving his hands in front of him. "I know you too bloody well, sis. And if you're willing to bet on it, you've got some sort of ace in the hole that Sirius can't see. I want _no_ part of it."

"Ready to watch me take off and fly?" Starr asked as she approached the gate in the magical security fence around the lake.

"Crash and burn is more like it," Sirius muttered. She glared at him. Starr, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily were walking together towards the lake.

"Go ahead my little fledgling," James said, pretending to be teary while ruffling his younger sister's hair affectionately. "I've never been so… so proud."

Starr rolled her eyes as she strode up to Shaun, a seventh year Ravenclaw prefect who was in charge of security for the seventh year festivities. "Hullo, Shaun," she smiled, flashing him a glimpse of her pearly white teeth.

"Starr," he said pleasantly. "You can't come in, I'm afraid; this is seventh years only."

She looked at him knowingly. "Think again, Shaun. I think you'll find that I merit some, er… special circumstances."

He glanced down at the list resting atop his stand. His blue eyes widened. "So you do, Starr," he said, flashing her a brilliant smile. "Go right ahead." As she stepped through the gate, she looked back at Sirius and winked.

"No bloody way!" he seethed. "How the hell did she get in?"

"I think we just saw the Potter charm in action," James said, winking at Lily.

"I think Shaun's after Starr, Padfoot," Remus warned him. "You better watch it. I know Starr would never cheat on you, but I don't know about Shaun…"

"I reckon you're right, Moony," Sirius growled. He started to head towards Shaun, but thinking quickly, Lily grabbed his arms and restrained him with surprising strength for a girl her size.

"Don't, Sirius!" she said shrilly. "You are _not_ going to get yourself expelled four weeks before we graduate. Don't worry about Shaun. He won't try anything with the Head Girl's best friend and the Head Boy's little sister."

"You better be right, Silly Lily," Sirius said, extricating himself from her grip. "Let's go."

"Well, Starr, I don't know how you did it," Peter said when they finally found Starr waiting for them on the bank of the Black Lake. "But you did it. One down, six more to go."

"Right you are, Wormtail," Starr grinned.

"I _told _you I didn't want anything to do with it," James teased Sirius.

"I'm in deep shit now, aren't I, Nova?" Sirius asked, sitting next to his girlfriend.

"Sure are," she replied, smiling. "I know what you're thinking, Padfoot. You already shook on it; there's no way out now."

"Damn," he muttered. "Oh, well. It was worth a shot."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for the reviews. Please keep it up! Enjoy. **

Chapter 17

"I don't know how you've done it, Starr," Sirius said at the end of term feast. "You've snuck into the seventh year swim, the seventh year fair, the seventh year talent show, the seventh year trip to Muggle London, the seventh year lock-in, and even the secret seventh year bar-binge at the Hog's Head." He paused to grin toothily at her. "But all your hard, hard work will be for nothing come tomorrow."

"And what makes you so sure of that, Black?" she asked interestedly, spooning soup into her mouth.

"Because tomorrow's graduation. And even that wanker Shaun won't let you in, even if you did manage to charm your way past him for the first six events," he replied smugly. He smirked. "I'm going to give you the dare of a lifetime."

"Keep dreaming, Padfoot," she chuckled. "It's simply _impossible _for me to lose this bet. _Impossible_."

"And what makes **you** so sure, Potter?" he asked.

She shrugged elusively, saying, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Stop bickering," Lily told them. "We'll find out who wins tomorrow, all right? No need to debate it now."

"My money's on Sirius," Peter said eagerly.

"Good on you, Wormtail," Sirius said, clapping Peter on the back. "I always knew you were the type of bloke who could pick out a winner from the hopeless."

Starr snorted.

"I beg to differ," Remus interjected thoughtfully. "I'm betting on Starr for this one." His statement earned him a glare from Sirius. "Sorry, mate. I'm with James on this one- Starr's to brilliant to bet on something she couldn't win. She's got some bloody brilliant ace in the hole that's waiting to bite you in the arse when you sit on it, mate."

"Whatever," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and taking a huge bite out of a chicken leg. "What about you, Silly Lily?"

"Starr," she replied, agreeing with Remus and James. "For the same reason as Remus and James."

"You see?" Starr said. "I even have more support than you do, Sirius. You're going down."

"We'll see," Sirius said confidently. "Come tomorrow, we'll see."

"Do you see Starr anywhere?" Sirius asked James in the midst of the throngs of graduating seventh years.

"No, I haven't," James admitted, looking worried.

"Ha," he gloated. "I knew she couldn't do it; even Shaun's got half a brain."

"I don't know, mate," James muttered. "I don't see her in the audience, either."

Sirius shrugged. "You probably just looked through the people too fast. There are tons of people here. Where the ruddy hell are they all coming from?"

James cast him a withering look. "Do I need to give you the talk about the birds and the bees again?"

"No," Sirius protested, looking disgusted. "I mean… why are so many people here?"

"Dunno," James shrugged. "I'll see you later, mate; McGonagall will burst a capillary if she finds out I'm not in my seat."

"Right," Sirius said. "See you later." He was going to win this bet. He could feel it. After he won, Starr was all his…

"James Potter!"

Bursts of applause and cheers and catcalls echoed over the grounds as James came forward to proudly accept his diploma from McGonagall. Lily quickly stepped out of her place in line to give him a long kiss and Sirius, Remus, and Peter each clapped him on the back as he walked by them. He took his place at the end of the line, reading to cheer for his fellow classmates that had yet to receive their diplomas.

The whole time Sirius had been standing up on the stage holding his diploma, he had been searching the audience for Starr's familiar face, but she was nowhere to be found. His heart fell to somewhere around his shoes. How could she miss his graduation? He wanted more than anything to believe that she was there to support him, but he had combed through the throngs of people meticulously at least five times and still he couldn't find her. Where the bloody hell was she?

"Now, I am extremely proud of this next student," McGonagall said, beaming into the microphone. Proud? That didn't make sense. Trianna Preston was in alphabetical order after James and she was thicker than a board. "She has worked extra hard since November to graduate with this class. She started this school year as a sixth year, but in late October, she came to me, distraught and worried. She told me that all her friends, including her boyfriend, were seventh years and that next year would be miserable for her without them. I suggested that she arrange to meet them every six weeks in Hogsmeade, but she insisted that wouldn't suffice. She told me that she was willing to finish all her sixth year course work as well as all the seventh year course work and the N.E.W.T.'s by the end of the year if she could graduate with this class. I was doubtful at first, and I agreed to do it only on a trial basis. She came to my office everyday from six in the evening to nine at night so I could supervise her work. She proved me wrong. She was brilliant and had no trouble at all comprehending the advance course work. She received 'O's in all of N.E.W.T.'s, something that a Hogwarts student has never done before. There was no way I could refuse to let her graduate today. I present to you, Starr Potter, a member of the Hogwarts class of 1977!"

Silence. Complete and utter silence reigned as Starr stepped forward, grinning broadly from ear to ear to receive her diploma. Sirius felt his heart stop. So that was where she had been! That was how she had managed to crash all the seventh year activities! Suddenly, Remus broke the silence, calling out, "Peter, you owe me fifty Galleons!"

Sirius found his tongue and let loose a long, low whistle. "Way to go, Starr!"

The applause and cheers erupted as a teary McGonagall handed Starr her diploma. As she walked past him, Sirius grabbed her waist and spun her around to face him. "I believe I owe you, eh?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yes, you rather do," she whispered back. He kissed her hard for several long moments before releasing her. "I'll deal with you later." She winked a hazel eye at him mischievously, and he knew he should really be scared of whatever she had planned for him. Strangely, he couldn't wait.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks for the reviews! This is the last chapter. I know- so sad! But I'm writing a sequel! -cheers- Be on the lookout for it! Enjoy. Read and review. **

Chapter 18

"Starr!" Sirius called through the throngs of people in the Great Hall.

"Sirius!" came the muffled reply. She elbowed her way through the crowds and threw herself at him.

He stumbled backwards slightly under her weight, quickly recovering his equilibrium so he could support them both. "Come with me outside?" he whispered into her ear, his breath warm against her skin.

"Sure," she replied, brushing her lips against his cheek, feeling the slight stubble that was there. He grinned broadly, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the grounds.

"So… why'd you want to come outside?" she asked, breathing in the fresh air outside. He grasped her hand in his, squeezing it gently.

"I'm so proud of you, Starr," he told her. "You had a problem, but you fixed it on your own. And you fixed a problem that belonged to all of us in the process. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," she flushed.

"And I believe you have a dare to give me?" he said, cocking his head at her as he led her over to their spot: the tree by the lake.

"Of course," she said. "I wouldn't _dream_ of letting you down. I've got the perfect dare."

"So," he said, as they sat down on the ground, both of them leaning against the tree trunk, "lay it on me."

She grinned, a wicked glint in her hazel eyes. "I'd rather draw out the suspense," she said, her tongue tracing along her bottom lip. He sucked in a breath, using all his self-control not to start snogging her senseless that very moment.

"That's… that's inhumane," he muttered, his hand gently resting at the back of her head. He slowly pulled her head closer to his, her breath washing over him like sweet perfume.

"My being inhumane and torturing you is what started our relationship, isn't it?" she chuckled, her hand reaching up to cup his face softly.

"True," he agreed. "You make a good point there, Nova."

"Hmmm," she said. "Don't I always?"

"Someone's got a big head," he teased, twirling a strand of her black hair around his finger now. She laughed slightly.

"Some thinks he knows it all," she countered, a grin playing on her lips. Her tongue against traced her bottom lip maddeningly- did she know what effect she had on him?

"Will bloody stop it?" he hissed suddenly.

"Stop what?" she asked, her eyes widening at him innocently.

"Stop moving your tongue around," he replied, a hungry look in his eyes. "It's bloody aggravating."

"Why is it aggravating?" she queried.

"Because it makes me want to-" he started, but he was cut off by her mouth on his. He moaned in delighted surprise as she opened her mouth to him, her tongue slowly tracing his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to her, eager to taste her again. His closed eyes rolled back into his head as her taste flooded his senses. He used the hand at the back of her head to gently force her head back, allowing him easier access to her mouth. She arched her back involuntarily, taking in a shuddering gasp of pleasure. She leaned backwards, pulling him down on top of her. He landed roughly on her, his body colliding with hers. She wrapped her legs about his waist, crushing him to her even more. He pulled away, gasping and saying, "It's maddening because it makes me want to do that."

"And what's so wrong with that?" she smirked, gasping as he kissed the base of her neck.

"Nothing," he admitted in a grunt, nipping at her neck, but not hard enough to actually break skin. She gasped again, her arms now looping around his neck possessively.

"Sirius," she hissed. He fastened his lips to hers again, setting a desperate, frantic pace. She fell into step with him as his fingers dug into the muscles of her back. She reached beneath his shirt, her fingers tracing the outline of his muscles. Sirius fought to keep his control as her lips continued to move against his; the last thing he wanted to do was to force her to do something she didn't want to. He felt a sudden tightening in his lower regions and knew that if he didn't stop now, he wouldn't be able to. He pulled away, panting heavily and rolled off of her. He sat up and leaned against the trunk of the tree. She followed suit, her body leaning heavily against his.

"I love you," he said throatily into her ear, taking her hand in his. He played with her slim fingers, occasionally pressing kisses to them.

"I love you, too," she replied breathily. She glanced sideways at him, a grin playing upon her lips. "Would you like to hear your dare?"

"Very much so," he replied, his thumbs rubbing circles into the palm of her right hand.

"I know this is really sort of forward," she said, sounding nervous now. She bit her lip and continued, "I dare you to ask me to marry you."

She waited on baited breath for his reply. He chuckled deeply. "Some dare," he scoffed, rummaging around in his pocket for something. When he found what he was looking for, he pulled it out and handed it to her. It was a ring box. Her heart sped up. Could it be…? She popped it open, gasping when she saw the beautiful diamond ring that was inside. He took it out and slipped it onto the fourth finger of her left hand, saying, "I was going to do that anyway."

December 26, 1995

"So," Sirius said, clapping his hands together, "that's your Aunt Starr for you."

Harry gaped at him, his emerald green eyes wide. He blinked. His mouth opened… then closed. He blinked again. "Come on now, Harry, you look like a fish," Sirius joked, letting loose a bark-like laugh.

"You dated my aunt," he said slowly.

"Very good, Harry. Quick on the uptake today, aren't you?"

"But that makes you my uncle," Harry said thoughtfully. "She did say 'yes' when you proposed, right?"

"Of course she did," Sirius replied. "She's the one who dared me to do it. But we… never exactly go to get married."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked quickly. "What happened?"

Harry looked up at his godfather expectantly. Whilst he had been talking about Starr, Sirius had had a happy look on his face, his eyes full of love and wistfulness. The happy expression had now been replaced by a forlorn one; in fact, Sirius looked as though he might break down and cry right then and there. "What?" Harry asked more softly this time.

"Harry, m'boy," Sirius said, standing up and clapping Harry on the back. "That's another story, for another day."


End file.
